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RIEGO, 

OR 



THE SPANISH MARTYR. 



A TRAGEDY 



IN FIVE ACTS. 



That man must be dead to every elevated thought and every gene- 
rous sentiment, who does not feel indignation and sorrow in considering 
the Tragic Close of the Great Drama of the Spanish Revolu- 
tion ; the rise of which excited so much interest, and inspired so much 
hope. — Westminster Review. 



RICHMOND: 

P. D. BERNARD, PRINTER AND PUBLISHER. 

1850. 



PS 3T) 17 



Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1848, 
by P. D. Bernard, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court 
for the Eastern District of Virginia. 



TO 

THE SURVIVING PATRIOTS 
\ 

OF THE 

SPANISH REVOLUTION, 

THIS ATTEMPT 

TO PORTRAY THE CHIEF CHARACTERS AND SCENES 

OF THAT 

MEMORABLE DRAMA, 

Whose elevated aim and tragic close have rarely been surpassed 

BY THE 
PAINTINGS OF FICTION, 



IS DEDICATED, 



AS A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT TO THEM AND THEIR DEPARTED 
ASSOCIATES, 

Who warring against Bigotry and Despotism, 
PROVED THEIR DEVOTION TO A CAUSE, 

Vindicated by the irrefutable reasonings 

OF 
LOCKE, MACKINTOSH AND JEFFERSON, 

ILLUSTRATED AND MAINTAINED BY THE VIRTUES AND VALOR 
OF 

WASHINGTON AND LAFAYETTE, 

AND CONSECRATED BY THE MARTYRDOM 

OF 

SIDNEY AND RIEGO. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The theme attempted in this drama, is the Revolution in 
Spain— that of 1820— and more particularly the fate of its ill- 
starred champion, Riego. No event, probably, ever more deeply 
excited the public sympathy. " Notwithstanding its disgraceful 
termination," as has well been observed by a powerful writer, 
"the Spanish Revolution, from the magnitude of the interests 
involved in its success or failure, and from the nature of the 
experiment, must be regarded as one of the most tremendous 
catastrophes which are to be found recorded in the history of 
our time." 

The author's object has been to present some of the most 
interesting incidents and prominent actors, in that glorious, 
though unfortunate struggle. He will not say that he has fol- 
lowed history, in every particular, with scrupulous exactness. 
But the principal scenes and traits of character— the various 
fortune of the Revolutionary contest — the stormy debates in the 
Cortes— the artful villany of Saez— the treachery of Abisbal, 
Ballasteros, and Morillo — the falsehood, cruelty and pusilla- 
nimity of Ferdinand VII— the energy and persevering con- 
stancy of Mina — the patriotic devotion and execrable assassi- 
nation of the Great Chief of the Revolution— and the tenderness 
and distress of his wife— will be found sufficiently sustained by 
authentic narratives, or contemporary opinion. 



777 



NOTICES. 



or THE 



CHARACTERS OF THE DRAMA. 



Riego. " The glory of commencing the enterprise," [the 
Spanish Revolution of 1820] "was reserved ibr Rafael de Riego, 
one of those rare meteors destined by Providence to appear on 
the political horizon and cheer the friends of human liberty." — 
Blaquiere's Hist, of the Span. Rev. 

1 His black eyes are always sparkling before me : busy, 
penetrating, enquiring. His visage is of a pale brown; his 
hair nearly black, but mixed with gray: his figure of a mid- 
dle size, but strikingly martial. You would fix on him for a 
hero." — Pantheon of the Age, vol. 3. 

He was cut off in the 38th year of his age. After a mock trial 
under an ex post facto law made by the Duke d'Angouleme's 
Regency, he was conducted to a lofty gibbet in a pannier 
drawn by an ass, amid the savage yells of the mob and the ec- 
clesiastics: and executed on the 7th Nov. 1823 with every indig- 
nity by which art could heighten suffering and insult. His wife, 
Dona Maria Theresa Del Riego y Riego, addressed a petition 
to Louis XVIII, to which she received no answer : and subse- 
quently in London to the French Ambassador; but before the 
messenger could be despatched with the last, the victim of ty- 
ranny was no more. She died a few years after in London sol- 
emnly protesting her husband's devotion to his country. See N. 
Month. M. vol. ix, p. 533. Ibid, vol. xii, p. 375, Mirafl. Hist, of 
Spain, Edi. in French, vol. 2, pp. 89-90, 117. 

The Marquis of Miraflores. himself of the anti-revolutionary 
party, afterwards ambassador of the Spanish Glueen at the 
Court of London, calls his trial, "un veritable assassinat juri- 



IV. NOTICES OF THE CHARACTERS OF THE DRAMA. 

dique" and attributes this and other horrible excesses which 
signalized the rule of the Regency, and the restoration of the 
absolute King— to the Duke d'Angouleme's retractation of the 
decree of Andujar. Hist. vol. 2, p. 94-95. 

Another witness— indeed an actor in the closing scenes of the 
Revolutionary tragedy— Sir Ro. Wilson, directly accuses the 
Duke d'Angouleme with having, in violation of all honor, in op- 
position to every feeling of clemency , surrendered the brave, the patri- 
otic, the virtuous but unfortunate, Riego, to his implacable enemies — 
though to that gallant individual's personal courage the King owed his 
very life. But he adds " Posterity will do him [RiegoJ justice. 
His name will live in the annals of history gloriously associated 
with those patriots who died in the cause of liberty — while 
the names of the Duke d'Angouleme and of the murderers of 
the gallant Spaniard, will descend to posterity accompanied 
with loathing and execration." Pari. Deb. for 1824, vol. 10, 
p. 1254. 

Don Francisco Espozy Mina. For some account of the bril- 
liant career and unwavering fidelity of this heroic soldier and 
patriot— see 15 Ed. An. Reg. 296, &c. He died in 1837, in his 
55th year. 

Don Antonio Quiroga — Was among the earliest to declare in 
favor of a free constitution, though a prisoner when it was first 
proclaimed by Riego. He was a member of the Revolutionary 
Cortes in 1820. 

Don Lopez Banos. An active leader in the revolutionary con- 
test: — and minister of war in 1822. 

Don Augustin Arguelles: A statesman and orator of consum- 
mate ability. Soon after the outbreak of the Revolution of 
1820 he returned from Ceuta whither he had been banished by 
Ferdinand, and was placed at the head of the ministry: subse- 
quently he was a member of the Cortes. He was distinguished 
for a spirit of moderation; perhaps too forbearing for the times. 
His virtues and talents have been warmly commemorated by 
Sir J. Mackintosh, Lord John Russell and others. See Pari. 
Deb. vol. 8, p. 1414, voL 10, p. 1237, &c 

Don Antonio Alcala Galiano. A decided Liberal; and one of 
the most eloquent speakers of the Revolutionary Cortes. See 
duin's Visit to Spain. 14 Blackw. Mag. 674, 694. 



NOTICES OP THE CHARACTERS OF THE DRAMA. V, 

Diaz and Roque : These are the only characters of the drama 
purely fictitious. 

Ferdinand VII Is represented as being faithless to his queen ; 
addicted to low intrigues and to the lowest company; such as 
Lozanillo whom he made prime minister : Ugarte — a member of 
his camaritta : Chamorro his buffoon and associate. Some 
have described him as naturally of a mild character. If so he 
seems radically to have changed his nature. His persecution 
of the Liberals proves him to have been of a bloody temper, or 
easily swayed to bloody counsels. Bowhring represents him 
as having all the vices and none of the virtues of his ancestors. 
" His habits " he says " are gross and licentious. He never for- 
gave a fancied enemy; perhaps never possessed a real friend. 
From his very childhood his untamable and barbarous propen- 
sities made him the object of dread, and adversity has only 
served to heighten the dark ferocity of his character." 

Sir Francis Burdett spoke of him as " that Ferdinand who 
had dishonored his mother, betrayed his father : — who had a- 
bandoned his country, and on his return murdered her defenders." 

Lord Nugent described him " as the scourge of his people :" 
— " the most finished specimen of all that was base and grovel- 
ling; perfidious bloody and tyrannical." In the New Monthly 
Magazine he is styled "the Hyena of Spain." Even the tory 
Editor of Blackwood charges him with " the basest treachery to 
all — which has stamped his character with one dye of unredeem- 
ed blackness." His own mother paints him as monstrum nulla 
virhde redemplum. 

Don Victor Saez : Confessor of the King — Secretary of State 
under the Duke d'Angouleme's Regency; and justly regarded 
as the adviser and abettor of the atrocious cruelties which sig- 
nalized the restoration of the legitimate King. His letter ofii- 
cially announcing the installation of the Regency was con- 
temptuously returned by Canning then British minister of for- 
eign affairs. See Miraflores, Hist. &c. Ed. in French, vol. 2, pp. 
80,439. 

Abisbal: Ballasteros : Morillo. History has branded the names 
of this trio with indelible infamy. The first died at Montpelier 
in 1834: the second retired to Grenada obscure and despised ; 
the last stripped of his command, sought refuge in France. All 
it would seem spurned by the wretch they served, and left to 
reap the just reward of treachery. 



DRAMATIS PERSONS. 



Riego, Chief of the Revolutionary party, called the Liberals. 
San Miguel, Secretary of State, attached to the Liberals. 

MlNA, 1 

Qjjiroga, > Officers, attached to the same party. 
Banos, ) 

Arguelles, Civil Chief of the same. 
Galiano, a Liberal: Member of the Cortes. 

Ferrer \ Ultra Liberals: Members of the Cortes. 

The Canon Riego. 

Diaz, a youth: son of Porlier who was slain in a previous civil icar. 

Roque, an old Soldier. 

Ferdinand VII., King of Spain. 

Vinuesa, his Confessor. 

Saez, also Confessor to the King, and afterwards Prime Minister. 

Alagon, Commander of the Life Guard. 

Chamorro, King's Buffoon. 

Abisbal, j Qjfi cers . originally attached to the Liberals, but 

M A orillo EROS ' S Wh ° deserted to the Ser viles, or King's party. 

A Nuncio, from Rome. 

U garte, i Familiars of the Inquisition. 

Dona Theresa, Wife of Riego. 
Inez, attendant on Dona Theresa. 

Inquisitors, Alcaldes, Officers, Soldiers, Courtiers, Ladies, Monks, 
Attendants. 



SCENE: Madrid and its vicinity. TIME: Two days. 



RIEGO. 

ACT FIRST. 
SCENE I. 

A Library in Riego's House. Diaz Reading. 

Diaz. " So saying, in her heart she plunged a knife before 
concealed, and lifeless, fell at their feet. [Much moved.] The 
husband and the father sobbed aloud." 

O piteous scene! Much wronged, peerless Lucretia ! 

[Reads interruptedly,'] "Brutus — drawing forth — the bloody- 
dagger — By this blood — so pure — with fire and sword — J will pur- 
sue the hateful race; — and, witness it, ye Gods! Never again shall 
■ monarch reign in Rome." 

Well said, brave Brutus : — Witness it! ye Gods! 
Never again shall monarch reign in Rome ! ^ 

Her guest! Her husband's friend! Just Heaven! To think 
Of that ! Entering his hospitable door 
To filch away the treasure of his soul ; 
Enter Riego. 
To blast his peace! Perfidious, brutal wretch ! 
[Perceives Ri.] Thy pardon — Seiior,-— I — I — 

Riego. Hold! — Good Diaz; 
Rather should I crave thine, thus to interrupt 
Thy pleasing studies. Some romantic tale ? [Takes the book.] 
Or stirring drama 1 Ah ! what theme can Rome's 
Grave annalist have found that thus hath touched thee'? 

Diaz. One might touch hearts of stone : Lucre tia's wrongs — 

Riego. Aye, wrongs indeed : Enough to call the blush 
To manhood's cheek, and rouse a slave to vengeance. 

Diaz. No slave was Brutus : — nor the fool he seemed. 

Riego. But had he been the craven fool he feigned, 
The shock had roused him from his idiot sleep, 
Upon his darkened brain poured a strange light, 
And thawed the icy current of his heart. 

Diaz. No people sure compare with those Old Romans, 

Riego. A bolder, loftier race ne'er graced the earth. 
In manly dignity they stood erect, 
Scorning to stoop for gold, or bow to power. 
2 



8 RIEGO, [Act 1. 

The simple grandeur of a virtuous heart 

Alone, with them, was true nobility. 

In humble merit's hand, roughened by toil, 

They placed the sceptre of command, and hurled 

Ambition from the seat he durst usurp. 

Thirsting for glory even beyond the tomb, 

They met, as did the violated wife 

Of Collatinus, death, and evils worse 

Than death, rather than bear a tainted name. 

But a still nobler impulse, urged them on; — 

The love of Rome. Rome was the mother they 

Revered ; nay more, the deity they worshipped. 

For Rome, they won the spoils of victory, tempted 

The angry flood, or plunged in gulfs of fire. 

Hence she fulfilled her noble destiny; 

And they earned names renowned through all the earth. 

But tell me, Diaz, whence did they imbibe 

Their purest tenets ] Whence their sagest laws ? 

Was't not from Greece % 

Diaz. True, Sefior; but methinks 
The pupils did surpass their teachers. 

Riego. Say, 
What Roman of them all more wise than Solon % 
Purer than Socrates or Plato 1 Juster 
Than Aristides 7 Or e'er gave his country 

More costly proof of love, than did the Spartan 

Fearless, self-doomed Leonidas 1 

Diaz. None; none: 
Well might the dying Plato thank the Gods 
That he was born a Greek, and Greece be proud 
Of sons had honored Rome herself Still Rome, 
Old Rome, stands foremost in my thought. Old Rome ! 
There's magic in the very name. O ! 'tis 
A sound so grand, so musical ! my ear 
Delights to hear, my tongue to utter it. 

Riego. Enthusiastic boy! It hath a charm 
For thee, because it tells of all that's pure 
In virtue, glorious in renown. Thou bring'st 
Me back the day, when, like thyself, I too 
Deemed Rome without a peer. Greece, lovely Greece ! 
And Rome, majestic power! still rise before me, 
Rivals, not equals, in the race of glory. 
In friendly links, the Grecian league appears 
Like clustering vines, shooting their tendrils forth 
On every side, to prop their fragile forms: 
Rome, the gigantic oak self-poised, which scorns 
The whirlwind's wrath, and wars with Time himself. 
Resembling, one, a mighty river formed 
Of many streams, lingering to enchant the eye 
And fertilize the earth ; the other, ocean, 
In whose unfathomed depths, the mightiest rivers 






Scene 1.] the Spanish martyr. 

Are gulfed and lost. A diadem, seems Greece, 
With rarest gems adorned of every hue : 
Rome shines a diamond of unclouded light. 
The banded states, a constellation, whose 
Mild fires invite the eye to gaze upon 
Its glittering host, and trace the separate path 
Of each bright star, while all as one, by chain 
Invisible, move in unbroken union: 
But who, undazzled, views that Ancient Power, 
The Guide and Ruler of the earth; her type, 
The Eternal Orb, who soars 'mid starry worlds 
His brightness hides, nor suffers eye, save that 
Of God alone, to look upon his face. 

Diaz. As in thy picture, Rome outshone her rival. 

Riego. A brighter, not a purer glory beamed 
Around her brow. The sterner traits "of virtue, 
She displayed; Greece, its loveliest features. No! 
In moral beauty, ne'er was Greece surpassed; 
But Rome, in grandeur, overtopped the world. 

Diaz. Had Brutus faltered in his stern resolve, 
O think, what had Rome been ! 

Riego. What had she been 1 
No valiant hand to seize on Freedom's torch 
And light her thro' the gloom? — No soul to feel, 
No spirit to revenge her wrongs 1 — What had 
She been? Behold her now! Like Spain, the slave 
Of monks! But nobly he redeemed his pledge; 
Stript from the tyrant-race the regal robe, 
And levelling in the dust their guilty throne, 
Taught Freemen to abjure the sway of Kings. 

Diaz. Spain has her Tarquin too! 

Riego. Worse, worse: a wretch 
In power, himself the slave of appetites 
More vile than ruled Rome's brutal tyrant. 

Diaz. Spain 
Has sons as brave as Brutus : w T ould that one 
Like Brutus might be roused to right her wrongs! 

Riego. And every unsophisticated heart 
Echoes that prayer ! True, true ; Spain has her Tarquin — 
A monster nourished at her breast, who laps 
Her vital blood : and she may point to sons 
As brave as Rome could boast, who strove to break 
In twain his iron sceptre. Much the tale 
Of their unhappy fate would grieve thy heart. 

Diaz. Too well I know around that fate there hangs 
Some dreadful mystery. 

Riego. Yet thou wouldst learn it 1 

Diaz. All, Seiior, all; though it should pierce my heart. 

Riego. ' Tis thy just due ; and soon it shall be thine. 

Diaz. Ah! Would that soon were now. 

Riego. [Sits to write.] When next we meet, 



10 RIEGO, L^Ct 1, 

We may resume our theme. [Returns the book.] 

Diaz. [Retiring, opens the book.] To-morrow, Serior'? 

Thanks !— Aye ! It was here : Witness it, ye Gods ! 

Never again shall monarch reign in Rome! [Exit Diaz. 

Riego. How, daily in his breast, spontaneous spring 

The virtues rooted in his father's soul. 

Did riper years but brace his youthful arm, 

No champion Spain need ask fitter to prop 

The cause her Porlier hallowed with his blood. 

[Thoughtfully.] Gtuiroga leaves the army: So! — 

Enter Servant, who hands a note. 

[Aside.] In private ! 

I'll see them here, good Pedro. [Closes his Portfolio.] 

[Exit Servant. 

Enter Arguelles, Abisbal, Morillo, and Banos. 

Seiior! Generals! 
Your hands. 

Arguelles. Our haste to greet thee, makes us trespassers. 

Riego. Nay, doubly welcome. Friendship heeds not forms. 

Abisbal. Our mission will excuse our seeming rudeness. 
We come to plead for Spain. 

Riego. Spain's friends are mine, 
And find, all hours alike, Riego's house 
And bosom open to receive them. Come, 
Be seated. 

Banos. A word makes known our errand : 
Arguelles, speak. 

Arguelles. The Friends of Order meet 
To-morrow at La Fontana. Gluiroga 
Joins us : and rendering up his high command, 
Frankly this question puts for our best counsels, — 
Who shall be Chief of Spain ? 

Abisbal. O! That Abisbal 
Might name the chief on whom all eyes are turned. 

Arguelles. Nor this alone demands our grave concern. 
A plot — now ripening in the Palace — 

Abisbal. Ha ! [Aside.] 

Arguelles. — By Monks — 

Morillo. I'll hunt them out with Cuban hounds — 

Arguelles. — In league with treacherous Liberals — and those 
The loudest in their zeal. [Aside to Riego.] Beware the Conde ! 

Riego. [Aside to Arguel] Abisbal? [They and \ Banos whisper.] 

Abisbal. [Aside.] Nay ; I too must play a part. 

[ Takes a book.] 

Morillo. [Aside.] 'Sdeath! There are two, methinks, too 
manv here. 
[Aloud, touching his sword.] By Santiago! Could I think— ye 
mean — 



Scene 2. J the Spanish martyr. 11 

Abisbal. General, thou'rt moved. 

Morillo. Not much: — Yes; yes! my sword, 
At the bare name of treachery, grows restless. 

Riego. Traitors oft have found its point too keen. 

Morillo. And shall again, when least they think it. 

Banos. Come ! 
This is no time for words. [ To Riego.] Our friend will meet us. 

Arguelles. We'll so report 1 — 

Riego. [To all] Bahos hath answered for me. 

All. [Going.] Seiior adieu! 

Arguelles. At the tenth hour— 

Riego. At ten— at La Fontana. 

[Exeunt. 
[Eyeing Morillo.] That swarthy dog is of the Moorish stock: 
So gruff, he'd tear the very hand that feeds him. 
Once set upon the trail, it matters not 
Of friend or foe, he'll have his blood. 
Brutal, but yet of use to worn* brutes 
Ferocious as himself: fit match for Freyre 
Or Alagon ; not like the fawning Conde, 
First tamed by cuffs, then pacified by crusts 
Thrown to the tune of, Sviallow it, thou dog! 
Bribed by the Monk! Aye! Aye, 5 Tis Saez 5 work. 

[Exit Riego. 



SCENE II. 

An Apartment in the Palace. Saez in a Recess, the Curtains partly 
dravm. Ugarte asleep in a Chair. 

Enter Chamorro, fantastically dressed. 

Chamorro. That old mouser watches as well asleep as awake. 
How he purrs ! 

Ugarte. [His eyes still closed.] Watchful nights 3 Son, will 
make drowsy days. 

Chamorro. Truly a catoptrical argument. 

[Saez murmurs in his sleep.] 

Ugarte. [Rising.] Hish! You disturb Don Victor — Hish! 
Now. Chamorro, what errand needs this drowsy time of day to 
speed it on 1 

Chamorro. Don Pedro and the King would see Don Victor in 
the Tambour Hall. 

Saez. [In his sleep.] Victor ! Victor ! 
2* 



12 RIEGO, [Act 1, 

Ugarte. This way. His siesta will soon be over. Kind 
Chamorro, I've a favor to ask of the King and you. [Going.] 

Chamorro. Don Pedro and the King. Speak ! 

Ugarte. A soldier's dress — 

Chamorro. [Laughs.] Thou wouldst be a soldier ! Yes, the 
very cut of a bloody hero. 

Ugarte. Only to-morrow, to grace the grand procession. 
Pray, good Don Pedro— 

[Exeunt. 

Saez. [Dreaming.] Thrice glorious prize! Sounds it not 
bravely '? Victor ! 
Victor the Fourth! 'Tis mine ! [Aicakes.] Gone ! Vanished 1 Crown 
And Mitre ! Sword and Keys ! How Fancy hath 
Beguiled my sleep, and with bright images 
Entranced my soul! Bishop! — 'Twas thus it ran — 
Then Cardinal;— And so from high to highest. 
But now, amid a gorgeous host I sat, 
And felt the scarlet honor gently press 
My brow. With looks submiss. the conclave eyed 
Their future pontiff. Awe and hope 
By turns possessed my heart; nor yet its ecstasy 
Subdued : — Glittering before my very eyes 
The triple tiar shone : 'twas but to stretch 
My hand and say 'tis mine! Strange mysteries, sooth, 
These workings of the brain in sleep : more strange 

If meaningless. Old seers have taught in dreams 

Heaven whispers to the soul its coming doom: — 

Or is't that Fancy, while dull Reason sleeps, 

With meteor ray, points out the path which leads 

To Fortune ?— Power ! Chief attribute of God \ 

Sure Heaven-born souls may covet thee, unblamed, 

To grasp at once a glorious destiny? 

To soar while others crawl : to bless or blast 

At will; our smile a sunbeam, and our frown 

The drear eclipse, making all nature sad : 

To be the gaze, the envy of the world; 

The one amid the million ! — So ! This dream 

Should busy many a waking thought : — It shall ! — 

And proudest monarchs yet may bow to Saez. 

Re-enter Ugarte. 

Ugarte. His Majesty would see Don Victor in the Tambour 
Hall ere he retire. 

Saez. 'Tis well. Keep watch without: see that none enter 
Save Father Vinuesa or the Duke. [Exit Ugarte. 

[Drains forth papers from his bosom and reads.] 

Enter Alagon: Saez hurries the papers into his bosom. 

Alagon. God keep good Saez ! 
Saez. And many, many years 






Scene 2.] the Spanish martyr. 13 

His arm protect the trusted sentinel 
Whose ceaseless vigilance so well repays 
His sovereign's grace ! 

Alag. That honored trust he shares 
With'Saez, and holds with him neglect all one 
"With treachery. 

Saez. 'Twere double treachery: treachery 
To ourselves, as to our gracious King, to sleep 
While envious adversaries, from his lips, 
Would dash the cup he deigns to share with us. 

Alag. And deem'st thou spirits so daring dwell on earth? 

Saez. Aye! Such as erst in Heaven arose, and soon 
Had made it Hell; but, that untiring Mercy 
Found them one, deep, deep in the abyss below. 

Alag. Thus foiled, thus doomed, the wretches durst rebel 
'Gainst Ferdinand's peace. Thy wakeful eye, good Father. 
And this tried blade must fail, ere treason dare 
Approach his lofty throne. 

Saez. How oft is grandeur 
Ruin's especial mark. Swift o'er the plain 
Whirls the hurricane blast, leaving unscathed 
The pigmy shrub, to battle with the oak : 
The forest king contemns his ruffian foe, 
And waves his head secure of victory; — 
When lo! the insidious shaft, felt ere descried, 
Hath pierced his heart and scattered to the winds 
His giant limbs. 

Alag. Still, from the mighty hand 
Which guides the devious yet unerring bolt 
In safety o'er the heads of favored mortals, 
Ferdinand hath nought to fear. Whence then his perill 

Saez. Whence comes it not? from reptiles crawling near 
His path; vile insects buzzing round his couch. 
In countless shapes dangers besiege the throne; 
And with the throne, the church. What loyal heart 
Marks unconcerned, the spirit of the age? 
Damnable heresies, rebellious creeds, 
Spread far and wide, for which, in better days, 
Faggot and fire had been the appropriate doom. 
Books by our ordinances denounced, abound 
In every hovel. The low-born multitude, 
Maddened with taste of fruit to them forbidden, 
Plucked from the tree of knowledge, now project 
Reforms of state, and prate about their rights ; — 
Their rights forsooth, and wrongs, whose highest privilege, 
Best graved with cudgels on their memories, is 
Obedience; aye, unmurmuring obedience, 
To those Heaven sends to rule them. Nought divine 
Nor human now — the Pope's supremacy — 
The monarch's birthright — Heaven's revealed decrees — 
Challenge respect. Vile Blasphemy usurps 



14 RIEGO, [Act 1> 

The pulpit-seat, to curse The Power that gave 
Her power to curse. Treason invades the palace; 
And lo! Sedition, armed with oaken staff, 
Now flaunts abroad, waving o'er motley troop 
Her ragged flag of variegated hue, 
Unveils her hideous features, and proclaims 
Her hellish schemes. 

Alag. By Santiago! It 
Would please me much to view these monsters: when 
And where may we behold them'? 

Saez. Now ! — in Madrid ! 

Alag. Sure, visions that did haunt thy couch, still cheat 
Thy waking thoughts: or slumbers Alagon, 
While thy keen eye and ear perceive what 'scapes 
His blunter sensed 

Saez. Hear me, good Alagon: 
To-morrow, as thou know'st, the king doth deck 
The Blessed Virgin in her promised robe. 
The factious chiefs will doubtless be abroad 
Among their rabble crew to sow the wind 
Of discontent. — 

Alag. Themselves to reap the whirlwind, 
Whose wrath shall scatter them as chaff. By Heaven ! 
Let him but speak the word, the barking curs 
Shall quickly cease to yelp; like very spaniels, 
Lie crouching at his feet, and whine for pardon. 

Saez. No time more apt, no hand more fit to scourge 
The obstreperous pack: but threat'ning word or look 
The King forbids, lest some rude tumult rise 
To shock his ears, and mar the holy rite. 

Alag. 'Tis a hard lesson. 

Saez. But must be obeyed : 
'Tis at our Lady's chapel most the crowd 
Will congregate; thither, at early hour, 
Thy loyal guard conduct, and so dispose, 
That thro' their ranks thy sovereign safety pass, 
Keeping the mob at distance : Should it grow restiff, 
For once bear patiently its insults. 
Howe'er the tempest rage without, let not 
Its surly blast invade the holy calm 
That suits the hour when Ferdinand the Beloved 
Doth bow him down before our Lady's shrine: 
Hail, Blessed Mary! 

Alag. But his vow fulfilled, — 
May we not then chastise the audacious rebels'? 

Saez. As thou dost prize thy Sovereign's life — thy own, — 
Beyond these walls let not that precious hope 
E'er pass thy lips, nor sparkle in thine eye. 
Once forth, the very air will blight it: 
Deep in thy bosom'fed, 'twill bloom and ripen. 
Even now the Sacred Banner of The Faith 



Scene 2.] the Spanish martyr. 15 

la Urgel waves above the death-struck band 
Who yesterday defied its withering curse. 
Soon may its conquering symbol flutter o'er 

rid:" then, then, the grateful task be thine 
To crush the viperous leaders of revolt: 

-.-. and to-morrow's sun, who beaming high 
Above, shall mirror to the Heavens a scene 
To gladden Seraph's eyes, haply may stay 
His flying car, to help thy pious sword 
And gild its iriumph with his parting smile. 

Alag. He shall ! There's joy, there's glory in the thought ! 

[ Going. 
. 'Tis Heaven's own cause, and therefore cannot fail. 

{Exit Alagon. 
[Saez takes out his papers and folds them carefully.'] 

Enter Viwues 

V.-.uesa. [Suspiciously.] No spies, good son ?- 

Saez. Ugarte's on the watch. 

r uesa. Thou'st mapped it plainly down'? 

Saez. Even as lasr night 
'Twas planned between us. Pray note if in aught 
We've changed it seem amiss. 

[Reads.] " T . is plan must be known only" — mark, Father, "only, 
-~ H.i Mia "';.. ; Uie Infant Don Carlos ; the Duke de L 'Infantado ; 
''mis de Castelar; Don Matias Vinuesa; and Don Victor 
Saez. K 

Vinuesa. But our new friends; Morillo — Ballesteros — 

8 ez. Fresh from the crazy club-room of Fontana, 
The Gallic poison lurking in "their brain 
Half cured, soon to break forth in m : Idei G 

Vinuesa. We needs must use them: — 

S vez Ls furious brutes 

Were used of old; we'll turn them loose upon our enemies, 

V\ vwssa. Bnt sure Alagon and Freyre — 
The very hand as 'twere to do our work: — 

Saez. ' The hand should do the bidding of the hi 
Not share its counsels. "Wh ere to fail is ruin 
Secrecy alone is safety. 

Vinuesa. Right, son : 
Proceed. 

:: At the tenth hour the procession moves from the Palace. 
: K i g shall have returned in safety, the Royal troops will be 
put in motion. On their march, they will throw down the pillar of 
the Constitution, and, cause the vile instrument itself to be burnt by 
\ in. L ing this max 'ement, the Canon D ^n Ma- 
fias V — 

Vinuesa. Enough ; I know my part: [sighs] but as the hour 
Draws nigh, beyond, all seems a'drear abyss, 



16 RIEGO, [Act 1, 

Whence mocking phantoms rise to appal the soul. 
[The Tragala is sounded in the streets.'] 
My dream ! my dream! — Saez, thou hast faith in dreams 1 

Saez. Abiding faith. 

Vinuesa. And think'st them sent of God? 

Saez. Undoubted revelations. Who may say, 
ril dream to-night: Vll dream of this or that: 
Or Lo! I dream: Can man create new worlds, 
Fill them with strange and ever-changing shapes 
Fair as the Angelic Host; — anon uncouth 
Misjoined and monstrous; such as mortal eye 
Did ne'er behold ? When every sense is locked 
In sleep's brief death, is it of our mere will 
We rove thro' boundless regions, veering swift 
To every point marked down in Time's old compass; 
Past, present, future ? Live in one short moment 
Ages of misery or bliss? Behold 
Youth's sunny brow blanched o'er with sudden snows 
And Age rejoicing in his auburn locks? 
Bring back the absent and the dead; and moved 
At their discourse responsive laugh and weep 
As though they stood beside us? No; No: 'Tis 
The handy- work of God. Ah! Father, I 
Could tell thee of a dream so heavenly bright;— 
So full of happy omens: — . 

Vinuesa. First hear one 
Must shake thy soul, as still it shaketh mine. 
At noon deep pondering on our plan, I sat 
As is my wont in Ferdinand's chair of down. 
A gentle sleep o'ercame me, and I saw, 

! dreadful scene ! the King a fettered captive, 
Prone at the Virgin's feet. A ruffian band 

First strove to fire the church : — then rushed on me ; — 
One grasped my throat; and I awoke to hear — 
What was no dream — my own half-stifled screams 
Amid the accursed Tragala's harsh din, 
Which, as but now, sounded through all Madrid: — 
And strange to tell ! the King himself watched o'er 
My sleep, his arm entwined around my neck. 

1 feared to tell my dream. O ! say not son, 
This vision comes from Heaven. 

Saez. Doubtless from Heaven. 
But Heaven not always gives as now a clue 
To thread these wondrous mazes, and unveil 
Its shrouded oracles. 

Vinuesa. As now ? As now ! 
Then are we doomed, and o'er the darkened skies 
Already rush the storms fated to blast us. 

Saez. Did dreams like sunbeams through the rifted cloud 
Pursue their self-illumined path with aim 
Direct, thus too might Saez interpret thine : 



Scene 3.] the Spanish martyr. 17 

But oft like the unfettered bolt their wayward track 
Deceives man's vision, or is known alone 
To gifted seers. 

Vinuesa. Remember, Pharaoh's dream 
Foretold long years of famine ; and they came. 

Saez. Who to the sleep-thralled Monarch heralded 
The coming scourge 1 A Spirit from God, was't not 1 
Teaching whom he would spare, to ward it ofEl 

Vinuesa. So tells the Sacred Legend. 

Saez. Such, be sure, 
The Messenger of Mercy sent to thee. 
The outrage to the Church, the King, thyself; 
Such daring acts the Rebels meditate : 
But mark; the Church was saved ; the King too lived; 
And thou awok'st to find him guarding thee 
From harm. Even so Our King above shall shield 
His struggling cause. His watching Angels, — thus 
Thy vision reads — already sound the alarm 
In faithful ears, and light their beacon fires 
To show the rocks and guide us into port. 

Vinuesa. Not Joseph's Heaven-taught counsels gladdened 
more 
The Egyptian's heart than hast thou mine. But seeing 
The crisis near, may Ferdinand's fears not mar 
Our dear revenge 1 

Saez. More than Riego's sword : 
But must our tongues be traitors to ourselves 
To rouse up sleeping foes 1 Say Ferdinand deems 
The day remote ; let him still slumber on, 
Nor waken until Spain repentant hail 
Her free unchartered King. 

Vinuesa. From Saez' mouth, 
Loyola's soul doth breathe the words of wisdom. 
Where all seemed dark, thou'st shed a blaze of hope. 

Saez. Father, the glorious enterprise is thine : 
Thro' thee alone, unconscious of its perils, 
Our Sovereign soon shall reap its golden fruits. [Exeunt. 



SCENE III. 

A Hall in the Palace : a Table in the centre for embroidering, on 
which is an embroidered Robe : at one end a Chair of Slate. 

Enter King Ferdinand and Chamorro. 

King Ferdinand. Chamorro, I have left my crown and robe. 
Chamorro. Give me a King for luck. 



18 RIEGOj [Act 1, 

King Ferdinand. How, Chamorro, is there good luck in that's 

Chamorro. Excellent! Few Kings have left their crowns, 
and brought away their heads. Pray give me thine. 

King Ferdinand. [Angrikj.\ I fancy not such jests. 

Chamorro. Pardon, Majesty ; I only meant to crown it and 
straight bring it back. 

King Ferdinand. [Laughs.'] Go, blockhead. 

Enter Vinuesa and Saez, conversing earnestly apart. They retire 
more out of view. 

Chamorro. Block-head ! — And when I have brought the crown r 
who shall answer for the block; — head I mean, to place it on? 
[Espies Vinuesa and Saez.] See there! My cap against your 
crown, those monks are plotting mischief. 

King Ferdinand. Ah ! I can spare you now. 

Chamorro. Majesty ! Beware ! One monk, they say, can 
match Old Satan. Two must be equal to a King. 

King Ferdinand. Then you would put your King before the 
Devil 1 

Chamorro. Nay, and so it please ye — put the Devil firs*-. 

King Ferdinand. Good ! 
[ Tlie King approaches Vinuesa and Saez: Chamorro going, returns. \ 

Chamorro. Majesty, why is Ferdinand like Spain's High 
Treasurer % 

King Ferdinand. Because he has no money. 

Chamorro. Well enough for a King. The block-head shall 
give a better answer. Because he is without a crown. 

King Ferdinand. Excellent ! That's mine — remember, 'tis 
mine. [Exit Chamorro. 

[ Vinuesa and Saez advance.] 

King Ferdinand. Ye've made good speed : Ah ! As we con- 
ned it o'er'? 

Saez. We trust your Majesty will find all right. 

Vinuesa. I'll vouch it, son, unchanged. 

King Ferdinand. And the Black List 1 

Vinuesa. Son, not a name left out 1 

Saez. Nay, we've been bold 
To add some scores ; your Majesty will judge 
If any merit grace. 

King Ferdinand. What matters it, 
How many rebel dogs ye hang, if sure 
Ye hang enough. Come ! I'll affix the seal — 

[King Ferdinand, Vinuesa and Saez retire to Saez 1 apartment] 

Re-enter Chamorro, with tJie Crown and Robes. 

Chamorro. Ah ! vanished ! — Well, now only suppose His Ma- 
jesty Don Fernando carried orT. as one of these days he cer- 
tainly will be, by His Majesty Don Diablo ; who shall wear 
this pretty head-piece 1 The King's brother Carlos, of course^ say 
the monks j but the Liberals and the soldiers say no — and they 



Scene 3.] the Spanish martyr. 19 

and their muskets are too strong for the monks and their mis- 
sals. The most serene Infant wont do — that's clear. Our lov- 
ing Consort, says Majesty; a mere woman! to order us cour- 
tiers of the bed chamber to shave off our mustachios and meta- 
mortify us into waiting maids. No! No she-male can govern 
Spain. And its a wise law. Petticoat government ! Why it's a 
most absolute and unbearable democracy ! No ! Queens can't 
be Kings ; so that's settled. Who comes next ? He that's next 
nearest, says I. And ivho's that? The favorite* Not Chamorro , 
says you. And why not. says 1 1 Who stands, or sits, or lies 
nearer Majesty day or night'? But, says you, the Chamorros 
have no royal blood. Save you, sir ; my name is Don Pedro Col- 
lado ; and the Collados are as full of the blood royal as Emperor 
Nap or King Pepe ; [in a low voice,'] or Don Serenissimo Car- 
los. 'Tis lucky walls have not tongues as well as ears, or these 
might tell some tales of one Don Manuel Godoy — [A noise.] 
Ha ! Who's that 1 Only Ugarte snoring. — Yes, they do say 
the Serene Infant is not his brother's father's own child. Blood, 
indeed ! I've hearn my great grandfather say, that his great 
grandfather told him, when he was a boy, that his father's great 
gre grandfather's father, was a great grandson of Ham : so 
our family's literally ascended from Noah. As to the Bour- 
bon^ he told me there v/as none saved in the Ark, unless it was 
in the shape of a couple of Baboons; and thatj he said, was the 
name of the Bourbons — and in fact of all the jabbering French, 
when he first heard of them. Royal blood, forsooth ! I doubt 
if there's a single thimble-full in the veins of all the Kings and 
Queens, Infants and Infantesses, upon earth, that's pure and 
unadul trifled. ButyoiCve no sense; no edification ; says you. It's 
a mistake. I larnt to spell and write — aye, so long ago, I have 
almost forgot how. But I can make a law that a cross — so — shall 
stand for I the King. What need has a King of laming, like com- 
mon folks, that's to live by their wits % Nobody ever heard of 
a King with much sense since the days of King Solomon. Had 
old King Carlos any sense % Or the old English King who lost 
all the little sense he had % A King has sense by law; and he 
has sense by proxy — and that's enough for any King. All that's 
wanting to make a King is a crown and robes. A good thought ! 
Yes! Yes! — I'll join the Liberals. They'll soon want anew 
dynasty. [Puts on the crown and robes and struts before a mirror.] 
Yes! I'll be King by the name of Don Pedro: a cruel good 
name for a King : and then I'll buy crowns and robes enough 
to furnish all the poor suffering Republics of the New World. 
I'll send each of them a young Collado. [He takes the King's 
chair, and affects to embroider.] 

Enter Alagon, Ladtes, Monks, &c. bowing obsequiously to Cha« 
morro, who keeps his face down. 

All. God give your Majesty a thousand years. 
Chamorro. [Raising his head.] Behold your King ! 
3 



20 RIEGO, L Act h 

Courtiers. [Laughing.] Ah ! King Chamorro ! 

Others. King Fool ! 

Chamorro. No. King of Fools ! 

Re-enter King Ferdinand, Vinuesa and Saez. 

All. The King 1 the King ! God save your Majesty. 

Chamorro. [Holding up the crown, <^c] Why is his Majesty 
like Spain's High Treasurer 1 All dumb 1 What says 
Majesty 1 

King Ferdinand. [Affecting to consider .] Because — because — 
Because I'm without a crown. 

All. Good ! Excellent ! Admirable ! Admirable ! 

Chamorro. Majesty shall never want a crown while Don 
Pedro has one to spare. [Puts crown and robes on the King, who 
takes his seat.] 

King Ferdinand. [Pointing to the robe.] How like ye this'? 

1st Lady. See there, Carlota ! what 
A beauteous bud ! 

2nd Lady. O! charming. [To Courtier.] Is't not sweef? 

1st Courtier. I'Faith — the very odor of the rose ! 

2nd Courtier. A master-piece ! 

3rd Courtier. Perfection ! That's the word. 

Uh Courtier. The last touch ever seems the brightest. 

bth Courtier. True. 

1st Lady. Wherein, Carlota, think'st the crowning beauty 1 

2d Lady. Now, sooth, I scarce can choose — the truth to nature'? 

1st Courtier. Nature ! Nature ne'er painted buds so fair as those . 

1st Lady. Now, I should say, — the brightness of the tints. — 

3rd Lady. The warmth, the freshness of the coloring! 

Chamorro. All wrong ! 

King Ferdinand, We'll hear the Duke. 

Alagon. Bid me amid 
Creation's wonders choose the greatest. — 

Several Courtiers and Ladies. Fine ! 

Alagon. — But still where all is grand, grandest of all, 
Methinks, that vast exuberance of mind. — 

Several Courtiers and Ladies. Hear ! hear the noble Duke. 

Alagon. — That princely genius — 

Several Courtiers and Ladies. Hear him ! 

Alagon. That royal Fancy — which did first 

Conceive the illustrious thought. 

Several Courtiers and Ladies. Sublime ! Sublime ! 

King Ferdinand. A well-turned compliment, in sooth : what 
says 
Good Saez'? 

Saez. Grand the conception truly, but 
It equals not the work itself— 

Several Courtiers and Ladies. Hear Saez ! 

Saez. — The master strokes— the magic touch. — 
Hear! Hear! 



Scene 3.] the Spanish martyr. 21 

Saez. — The superhuman art — the Godlike power — 
Which could from this — [the needle] — from these — [the threads] — 

from nothing as 
It were, create a universe of beauties ! 

Several Courtiers and Ladies. Splendid! Magnificent! 

King Ferdinand. — High praise, we own. 

1st Courtier. So just withal: so true. 

Chamorro. All, all at fault. 

King Ferdinand. Chamorro wants both eye to see, and tongue 
To praise our pious work. 

Chamorro. True, mighty King. 

King Ferdinand. How ! True, say'st thou 1 

Chamorro. Aye ; dazzled by its lustre, 
And dumb with admiration ! 

King Ferdinand. Rare Chamorro ! [Laughs.] 
Now beat Don Dummy if ye can. [To Vinuesa.] Good Father, 
Thy holy prayers have borne us thro' our toils, 
And given us hope the Virgin will accept 
Our simple offering. 

Vinuesa. Doubtless, son : 'Tisthou 
Alone, most blest of earthly monarchs, 
Hath wrought a gift so precious in her eye. 

King Ferdinand. Thou say'st it, Father; else should we dis- 
trust, 
The flattering thought. 

Vinuesa. How view this wondrous work, 
And doubt the impressure of a hand divine — 
The hand of her for whom thou toil'st 1 Hail, Mary ! 

King Ferdinand. Father! her charming inspiration, first 
At Valencay, did prompt the happy thought, 
Solacing there our else most tedious sojourn : 
And since, amid our consecrated task, 
Refreshing more than food, or drink, or sleep, 
'Till now its joyful consummation we 
Behold. To-morrow — Ha ! To-morrow 1 Can it be 1 
And shall we yet be spared to see that day, 
So long, so brightly pictured to our hopes 1 
To-morrow ! One short day; — not half that space, — 
Speeding away in task of love ; and lo ! 
It dawns upon us ! Why ! 'Tis here ! 'Tis ours ! 

Vinuesa. Dear Son, these Holy raptures waste thy health. 
Seek we the chapel : there, our mingled prayers 
May tranquillize thy soul, and win sweet smiles 
From Heaven's blest Glueen to crown thy pious toils. 

King Ferdinand. We yield us, Father, to thy faithful gui- 
dance. 
Here, with the new-born day refreshed, we meet 
Again : And then our dearest wish fulfilled, 
Spain's vast domains contain no heart more blest, 
Than that which beats within her monarch's breast. 

[Exeunt. 



22 RIEGOj [Act 2, 



ACT SECOND. 

SCENE I. 

A Hall in the Palace. 
Enter King Ferdinand and. Chamorro, meeting. 

King Ferdinand. Ah, Chamorro ! I could not bide thy tardy 
motion. Hath the sun risen 1 

Chamorro. Just up : and by the clock, full ten minutes be- 
fore his time; impatient to salute Majesty. 

King Ferdinand. Smiles gaily, doth he 1 

Chamorro. Smiles? — Laughs* outright: his face one blaze of 
joy; just like his Royal Cousin and Brother. 

King Ferdinand. [Laughs.] Come — I must haste to end my 
pleasing task : — 
Then forth to greet the jocund King of Da) r , 
And his bright smile with smiles as bright repay. [Exeunt. 



SCENE II. 

The Library in Riego's House. 

Enter Riego and Diaz. 

Diaz. O ! How unlike the Rome of former days. 

Riego. At home, thro* selfish schemes and lust"of conquest 
Her ancient honor ever and anon 
Shot forth a glimmering ray: abroad, she roamed 
Begrimed with blood, the scourge, as now the scorn. 
Of nations. Her own legends tell how like 
A fiend she ravaged Spain ; and ours, how Spain 
Met Roman wrath with more than Roman constancy. 

Diaz. Yet the world paints the old Spaniards proud 
And spiritless. 

Riego. Brave foes have felt their valor; 
Rome^in her brighter day had honored it. 
Yet proud in sooth they "were ; but not of gold; 
Nor aught gold buys to feed the vanity 
Of petty souls. Nor yet of noble blood 
Made they their vaunt; tho 5 nobler ne'er did course 
Thro' princely veins ; its head spring in the heart 
Needing no voucher from the spurious rolls 
Of Heraldry, but self-proved, welling forth 



Scene 2. J the Spanish martyr. 23 

In noble deeds. No robes of silk disguised 
Their manly form ; a rude attire instead 
Left bare to wintry wind, and warrior's steel, 
A bosom rugged as their hills, which yet 
A gem more precious held, — the soul of truth 
And honor — lucid source of all their pride : 
An honest pride, which at the shrine of Virtue 
Bowed with humility, and frowned on Vice 
Though seated on a" throne. 

Diaz. I had sooner met 
The roughest pressure of such honest hands, 
Than touched a monarch's palm. 

Riego. Honor they prized 
Above renown : their country's smile beyond 
Her golden hoards. Freedom they deemed first gift 
Of Heaven; its bitterest curse a foreign yoke; 
And spumed alike the tyrant and the slave. 

Diaz . May not their" sons be proud of such an ancestry 1 

Riego. Let them first prove their lineage by their virtues ; — 
Scaling the lofty heights their fathers soared to :— 
Else tho' bedight in Eagle plumes, they shall 
Be scoffed for vaunting Daws. Once in Galicia 
Rome's haughty chief a tribute claimed — the badge 
Of vassalage : No gold, indignant they 
Replied, our sires bequeathed us to redeem 
Our rights, but swards-^swords only — to defend them. 

Diaz. Spoken like Romans. 

Riego. And why not-- 

Diaz. Right, Senor: 
Like true-born Spaniards, like themselves. 

Riego Before 
Numantia's walls came Scipio's bands, soiled with 
The smoke and blood of Carthage : chains or death 
Their terms; and death her great resolve. Long did 
She foil his mighty host; ceased then the struggle; 
In rushed the victor: Lo ! His prisoners free ! 
Famine had saved them from a sterner foe, 
"With wolves and vultures leaving him to share 
The festering spoils. 

Diaz. Ah ! Spain remembered Rome, 
But Rome forgot herself. 

Riego. Trusting to her faith, 
Our sires did thrice lay down their arms, and thrice 
She steeped her hands in blood of unarmed captives. 
Then salved the act with Jesuit plea, No faith 
With rude Barbarians: — as tho' Honor e'er 
Might break her league with truth, to link with treachery. 
Revenge, despair fired every Spaniard's heart: 
Foremost up sprung the Lusitanian swain 
Bold Viriatus. Fast from hill and vale 
Their crooks like his transformed to spears, his comrades 
3* 



24 riego, [Act 2, 

Thronged, mingling with the iron voiced drum 
The silvery music of their own loved reeds. 
Then shouting as tho' mid his fold he spied 
Their dreaded foe, he led them on the hunt, 
And Rome's proud legions fled aghast, as flies 
The panic-stricken lamb before the wolf. 

Diaz. A shepherd conquering conquerors of the globe! 

Riego. Nay: Treachery o'ermastered valor. Smarting 
With shame, Rome's Chieftain stooped to a foul revenge, 
And bribed a traitor slave to steal away 
The sleeping warrior's life. 

Diaz. Shame on the wretch 
Could stain his country's honor and his own. 

Riego. The murderous deed confessed the warrior's worth, 
And won a fruitless triumph. Once again 
War with her kindred fiends Famine and Plague 
Ravaged fair Spain ; and Rome's ferocious Eagle 
Lay with her victim gasping on earth;. 
While above both high waved the Goth's red banner. 
In turn, the Goth was vanquished and Don Roderick,. 
Last of his race, fell beneath Tarick's scymetar. 
But still, O! Blasting sight I An alien flag 
Floated o'er Spain, and her fair sceptre passed 
To Moorish hands. By numbers overpowered, 
In spirit unsubdued, revolt upon 
Revolt still taught ihe victor, Roman, Goth 
And Moor, how vain the thought to hold in fetters 
Men worthy to be free. One giant struggle : — 
The brutal Moor was driven far from Spain,. 
And his ill-omened crescent which had risen 
Si. °ared with her blood, sunk drenched in his own. 

Diaz. [Triumphantly.] These rude Barbarians then main- 
tained their rights, 
And loved their country : Would their sons were now 
No wiser than their sires. 

Riego. Confess then, Diaz, 
All virtue perished not with early Rome. 
Throughout the earth, 'tis true her footprints still 
Mark her victorious march ; but as her yoke 
She laid upon the neck of prostrate nations, 
Her own proud spirit they inhaled, and learnt 
To feel its weight. Tracing time's downward current. 
History shall point to scenes of moral grandeur, 
Models of manly virtue, sages, warriors, 
Not even by thy favorite Rome surpassed. 

Diaz. Say, where the annals which record their fame 7 

Riego. In Spain, 'mong things forbid. But fortune holds 
For thee the treasure thou wouldst seek. 

Diaz. For me ? 

Riego. A Father's legacy, from ruthless monks- 
Concealed, or else- ere now a Mazing sacrifice.. 



Scene 2.] the Spanish martyr, 25 

Diaz. I'd guard the boon against a thousand monks. 
Being mine, lives there the wretch would rob me of it*? 

Ricgo. Of that? — Of life ! Demons in holy garb 
Who prowl abroad to blast the earth which He 
Who made it blessed. But here while Isla's sons 
Shall watch o'er Spain, thou shalt defy their malice. 

Diaz. Leaving our friends and thee to meet it all t 
I blush to own the wish thy kindness would 
Forestall was rising in my bosom. Senor ! 
Since hither first thou ledst my orphan steps, 
Here have I found a home friendship endears 
And honor guards : should Diaz peril its peace ] 

Riego. What time thou wert a nursling, Diaz, fears 
Like these might be indulged. Stout hearts shrunk back 
Appalled at the bare name of that dread Power 
Whose aim, invisible, none might avoid. 
A brighter day now dawns, and superstition 
Quails as its beams illuminate her cell. 
~No more with scowling eye and noiseless foot 
Her spies dare cross our threshold. Freely then 
Enjoy the feast a fathers care provides. 

Diaz. How like a father's love thy kindness falls 
On Diaz' head, and seems no burden. 

Riego. Friendship, 
My Diaz, measures not nor weighs her ofTerings y 
Coldly to exact the debt; like Heaven, she showers 
Her blessings down, affection sole return 
She asks. So thy loved sire convinced my heart 
By deeds more strong than words, when perilling all 
Forme, his home now desolate, was mine. 
Lo ! This the talisman that face to face, 
In yon recess shall bring before thee 
Freedom's bright galaxy. Milton and Locke, 
Britons with Roman souls, who taught, that man. 
jNot God, makes Kings, and may r by right divine, 
Unmake them: Hampden, who in arms defied 
A tyrant's rage, and checked him in his power : 
Bradshaw, inflexible, unshrinking Judge, 
Vv"ho braving chains, and death, and calumny r 
Standing erect in face of God and man, 
Condemned a tyrant to a tyrant's doom. 
Paissell and Sidney, twin-born sons of liberty, 
In life united, and in death twin heirs 
Of Immortality. 

Diaz. iNev^r can I 
Forget their names. 

Rie^o. Turn we to Switzer's hills : 
Intrepid Tell, behold! By Gesler forced, 
On his own son, to try his archery. 
Swift on its errand flew the barbed reed 
Bearing in triumph off the ruddy prize 



26 RIEGO, L Act 2 r 

Poised on his Albert's head : the son was saved ; 
The sire — his only crime a dauntless soul 
And an unfaltering arm— in fetters bound. 

Diaz. Had I been Tell, by Heaven 

Riego. What wouldst have done 1 

Diaz. Have sent the arrow strait to Gesler's heart; 
If heart the wretch could have who would have made 
A father slay his child. 

Riego. Aloof, beyond 
That arrow's flight, the monster stood to enjoy 
His frantic sport. But brief the joy of guilt. 
Once more, free as the Chamois of his mountains 
The hunter roamed at large. The tiger crossed 
His path; — one flash from Tell's wrath-kindled eye- 
Sudden as the Avalanche the feathery shaft o'ertook 
The savage in his flight, and far around 
The glad hills echoed back his dying yell. 

Diaz. O [ Honored be the arm* which strikes for freedom. 

Riego. Pulaski; Kosciusko: Noble Poles ; 
Their comrade, La Fayette, the pride of France ; 
Friend of the oppressed ; firm foe of tyranny 
In King or mob : alike did they renounce 
Inglorious ease, in distant climes to plant 
The Tree of Liberty , and found beyond 
The Atlantic wave, a Cause to fire their zeal; 
A Leader to conduct their steps to glory. 

Diaz. Hearing that leader's name, my infant lips 
Were taught to lisp the phrase which now my heart 
Repeats, Greatest and Best. 

Riego. Why name that name. 
Unknown to Heraldry, tho' brighter ne'er 
Was blazoned on the rolls of Fame ; which echoes 
In terror from the palace-dome, but carries 
Joy to the cotter's roof? His brow severe 
Of native dignity, no jewelled crown 
E'er tarnished; but instead, the civic oak 
Mingled with laurel boughs, his temples bound. 
As by one soul inspired, the undaunted Gaul 
And spotless Chief breasted the storm : nor ceased 
Their toils 'till they had won a nation's liberty; 
The world's esteem; the approving smile of Heaven. 
Freedom's unsceptred son, his Country's Saviour, 
Now dwells in bliss ; his glory freshening in 
The stream of time: and still while that stream flows 
Shall his loved memory be hymned in praise. 

Diaz. Blessed be the country gave him birth ! 

Riego. Blessed she is in every precious gift: 
Her own aspiring Bird, careering mid 
The stars, apt symbol of her towering destiny. 
But yesterday the new-fledged Eaglet broke 
The grasp that held him grovelling on the earth ; — 



Scene 2.] the Spanish martyr. 27 

A mother's grasp; who, sought her offspring's blood 
To fill her shrinking veins, and would have plucked 
His brightest plumes to deck her waning age. 
Now high he soars above the lightning's reach, 
Or on the bosom of the burnished cloud 
With outstretched pinion floats, free as the Heaven 
He breathes. But I must turn to other thoughts, 
Nor longer weary thee. 

Diaz. O say not that : 
Good Sehor! I — but no — not now — 

Riego. Speak, Diaz — 

Diaz. I much had hoped — that promised tale to hear. 
Oft in my ear half-whispered — of a deed 
That wrapped our house in mourning; Spain in gloom. 

Riego. That theme of saddest interest I would fain 
Still spare myself and thee. Ah! Ill-starred Lacy I 
And — shall I name him 1 — Porlier ! — 

Diaz. God ! — yes ; yes ; 
Speak of my noble sire. 

Riego. Ere long, that task 
Of mingled grief and pleasure shall be mine : 
To contemplate with thee his manly virtues; 
His valiant deeds ; that made Spain's brutal King 
Pause in his hunt of blood. O ! would that memory 
Might dwell on these, forgetful of the scene 
Which closed his bright career, when, like brave Lacy. 
By Ferdinand betrayed to chains and death! 

Diaz. Yet Ferdinand lives.— Just Heaven! Should not the 
thought 
Cause Porlier's blood to boil within my veins 
And redden my cheek with shame 7 

Riego. On Porlier's friend 
Rest that reproach, if aught be due, who still 
Hath spared a forfeit life, to stay the flow 
Of worthier blood. Wretched as infamous 
The murderer lives ; for guilt is misery. 
Falling in freedom's cause, his victim won 
A glorious tomb, and finds beyond, that peace 
Virtue alone can know, since Virtue only 
Maketh man the image of his God. Thro' life 
Her beauteous halo to her votary draws 
The unbought homage of the world ; then lights his steps 
To bright abodes of ever during bliss. 

Enter Servant v:ho hands Riego a Gazette — and Exit. 

Go now, my Diaz; breathe awhile the pure 
Refreshing morn : then to the sweet repast 
Awaits thee here, [Exit Diaz. 

[Reads.] The Echo. — Ha! The army of San Fernando dis- 
banded ! ! The decree has gone forth; La Isla's sons who first raised. 
Freedom's flag at Areas, disarmed, disgraced to quiet the terrors of 



28 riego. [Act 2, 

her foes Quiroga — tell it not in Gath — blindly approves the hell- 
ish scheme 

Quiroga ! Can it it be ? Then is he blind,— 
Stark blind: — not seeing their drift who at a time 
Like this would banish from Madrid Spain's friends 
And his.— Duped ! Duped ! Would Mina were returned ! 
How must his honest soul be chafed to learn 
Quiroga's blindness ] How loathe the traitor Conde ! 

Enter Doxa Theresa. 

Riego. Ah ! This is kind. 

Doha Theresa. Thou scarce wilt deem it so ; 
For I am come to chide thee, that amid 
Health-wasting studies thou mispendst the time, 
"When Heaven's own wondrous volume courts our eyes. 
And the Young Morn sheds on its fairest page 
Her magic light. O ! Come with me, and in 
Our favorite haunt all sterner cares awhile 
Forego. 

Riego. So glowingly thou paint'st the scene, 
My will would fain rebel against my duty. 

Dona The. Inexorable duty ! Ah! Art thou 
Her only slave that without mercy task 
On task she puts on thee 1 [Sighs.] Thou'rt sad ! Riego. 
That cloudy look tells of some anxious thought. 

Riego. A fleeting shade thy smile shall soon dispel. 

Doha The. And why, when all around is sunshine, rest 
These shadows on thy "brow 1 

Riego. With thee, Theresa, 
This laughing earth were still the paradise 
; Twas meant, were't not that man turns all its sweets 
To poison, and with fiendish spleen along 
The paths of peace scatters unwonted thorns. 
Must it not pain our hearts, that he should mar 
God's bounty thus — to make himself a wretch 1 

Doha The] Let guilt endure the penance; why shall we 
"Who loathe the crime, spurn Heaven's pure gifts, and leave 
Its fruits and flowers, profusely blushing round, 
To wither on the stem 7 Come ! Come ! — Ah me ! 
Some spirit whispers me, there was a time — 
Some short moons since — one happy hour above 
The rest, thy heart may guess — when not in vain 
Had poor Theresa sued. 

Riego. Nor shall she now: [Closes his Portfolio.] 
This task mav be deferred ; and the sweet thought 
Indulged of that fond hour an Angel prompts 
Thee to recall. 

Doha The. Rememberest thou that hour'? 

Riego. Thou doubtst it not ] — More freshly than the last. 

Dona The. In El Retiro's wildest walk, we strayed, — 
Alone — scarce conscious that around us night 
Had thrown her friendly veil. The Star of Faith, 



Scene 2.] the Spanish martyr. 29 

With fixed eye, o'er Buytrago's height 
Looked down; looked down and smiled — 

Riego. To view a sight 
Lovelier than Buytrago's glittering peak: — 
Affection's crystal gem; pure as the mine 
From whence it sprang; more brilliant than the ray 
That lit it up; spangling thy cheek, till brushed 
By my rude lip away. 

Doha The. Not rude, but murmuring 
Soft vows of constancy, enduring as 
The hills which rose above : — Forget'st thou that ? 

Riego. Sooner those hills shall dip their snowy plumes 
In Manzanares' rill, or his scant rill 
O'erleap their towering heads. Still, as in that 
Fond hour, throb not our hearts in unison ? 

Doha The. So mine will think ; then wond'ring asks, why kept 
A stranger to the pangs that rend thy bosom'? 

Riego. If in that bosom, painful thoughts take root, 
Confess, Theresa, 'twere no proof of love 
Thence to transplant them into thine. 

Dona The. When first 
The germ appears, a wife with gentle hand 
Might pluck it forth, and in its stead, engraft 
The blooming bud of peace. Oh ! Why, Riego— 
Why, from thy faithful wife, conceal aught that 
Disturbs thee?- Ah! if thy Theresa seem 
O'er earnest — 

Riego. Why 'twere but a grateful proof 
Of what needs' none. But think ! Our country smoking 
With her children's blood ; — our friends beset by spies, 
Knowing no safety but in mutual faith. 
Think well of this : — then say, when Honor here 
Hath placed the seal of silence, would Theresa 

Doha The. Zsay. Wrong her not: she'd have thee guard 
the secret 
Even 'gainst the bribery of love. 

Riego. Thou dost 
Forgive me then ?- 

Doha The. Love, honor thee the more, 
If that might be, for thy unswerving truth. 

Riego. Could I prove false to friendship, thou should'st be 
The first to spurn my broken faith; — for, 'tis 
From thee I take lessons of constancy. — 

Doha The. O ! sweet is praise from thy too flattering lips. 
Blest lot ! To win thy smile, and on this breast 
Pillow the griefs that ruffle thine. [Bell rings.] 
Hark! hark! 

Enter a Servant. 
Servant. Two begging Friars, all the way from Pampeluna ;— - 
bringing a message for Don Rafael. 



30 riego, [Act 2, 

Riego. Tidings, I trust, from Mina : Show them hither. 

[Exit Servant. 
Doha The. These poor travellers will need refreshment. 

[Going.] 

Enter Mina and San Miguel, disguised as Friars: they pause at 
the door. 

[Aside to Riego. ,] Ha ! Well shod beggars ! Why conceal their 

faces 7 
Beware ! All are not Monks who wear the cowl, 
Nor every Friar the Saint he seems. 

Mina. [Throwing off his disguise.] No Saints 
Seiiora, wilt thou find in us. 

Riego and Dona The. Ah ! Mina ! 

Riego. [Embracing Mina.] Welcome ! a thousand welcomes 
to Madrid. 
San Miguel too ! [ Takes his hand.] A pleasant jest this, sooth. 

Doha The. [Meeting them.] Senors ! Much I need your 
pardon. 

San Miguel. Fair Senora, 
Thou might'st mistake us well for dark assassins. 

Mina. Aye ! Or for what we seemed ; remorseless Monks. 

Doha The. But now I know my husband's valued friends. 

Riego. To whom he'd trust his life, his honor, aye, 
And thine. 

Mina. Hold! Hold, Riego! Friendship's chain 
Is not so rusted that it needs new polishing. 

Riego. Nor time nor absence e'er can dull a link 
That binds us each to each, and heart to heart. 

Doha The. Be it ever bright and firm: to that I'll fix 
The anchor of my soul, and all my fears 
Give to the winds. [Exit Doha Theresa. 

San Miguel. Is't not a damning proof 
Of our degenerate state, that honest men 
Must skulk in masks, while knaves, notorious knaves, 
In Heaven's broad light walk unreproved % 

Riego. But why 
This odious garb 7 ? Do spies beset my house % 
Or are Riego's friends marked out for vengeance 1 

Mina. Both! Treachery fast weaves her web around us. 

Riego. What room for treacherous schemes'? Why 'tis a day 
Of peace, is't notl A jubilee of Saints % 

Mina. Of saintly hypocrites, mouthing false vows 
The while their hearts are gendering fell designs 
This mummery was meant to cloak. Already 
Fontana's doors are blocked by servile bands : 
Hard by lies Don Mamerto's mangled form. 

Riego. Dead! Says'tthou'? 

Mina. Slain by his comrades of the Guard. 

Riego. Our cause ne'er lost a truer friend. 



Scene 2.] the Spanish martyr. 31 

Mina. His truth 
His crime; his only crime. He durst unbind 
A soldier, known by his badge as thine, 
The palace slaves had fettered for their sport: — 
Like curs they turned on him; aye, and before 
Their master's face tore out his honest heart. 

Riego. A freeman struggling for a brother's rights, 
And not an arm stretched forth to succor him ! 

San Miguel Too sudden the blow for aid; but on the spot 
Gluick gathering multitudes had crushed the caitiffs, 
Had not the King given pledge for speedy justice. 

Minh.. His pledge! — Good as a Monk's; or Lucifer's. 

San Miguel. Thyself hadst been deceived. Why, when the 
storm 
Raged most, and pelting missiles sorely bruised 
His flying guard, his voice was heard loud cheering, 
"Down! Down with them." " Leave not a dog alive!" 

Mina. Pardon me Sefior; pray let me tell the sequel: 
Entering Madrid, I reached the spot just as 
The bier had halted at his gate: — I saw 
The double-visaged crocodile shed tears! 
By Heaven! He wept — wept for his good Mamerto, 
And ordered comforts for the poor dear orphans; — 
Then turned to hasten on his childish task; 
While loud the serviles cried, "Long live the King." 

Riego. And still the liveried ruffians go unpunished 7 

San Miguel. Who were left else to do his bloody work! 

Mina. Ah! There's a scene played off with matchless art; — 
Offended Majesty, with frowning brow, 
Feigning to chide his mutinous guard ; his guard 
In bold defiance standing to their arms! 

Riego. A mock rebellion, and a feigned rebuke ! 
Knowing the vile impostors, see ye not 
The murderous deed just done, the passing mockery, 
Are but the first scenes of a tragic plot, 
Contrived within the walls where now 'tis acting? 

Mina. And swifter than thou dream'st to end in ruin. 

Riego. What! will the nation think ye rest again 
On Ferdinand's broken faith, and court their doom? 

Mina. No, Senor, no: throughout the outraged land 
A noble spirit reigns, resolved to find 
Some surer guarantee for freemen's rights, 
Than faith in faithless rulers. 'Tis of this, 
Don Evaristo and myself would speak. 

San Mig. Of schemes withal more fell than thou'st surmised. 

Riego. Of all Spain's perils — and hopes: — speak, Senors, 
Freely. 

San Mig. This morn ere rose the sun, the news boy tapped — 
Eager to impart news of his own, more fresh 
And wondrous than the reeking sheet he brought — 
A rapid sketch he drew of horrid plots, 
4 



32 riego, [Act 2, 

By Carlos and the Monks; of mask'd Moors; 

Huge Giants dressed for the King's grand pageant: 

The French, five hundred thousand strong, this side 

Bidassoa, speeding swifter than our spies 

Could bring the news. Pondering awhile I lay: 

Then rose and strolled from camp in search of Bafios, 

In yon vile habits cloaked, we marched beside 

A group of Anticks, and with them unchallenged 

Entered the palace. There ensconced amid 

Soft dames and smiling courtiers, plying fast 

His pious needle, sat the King. Behind 

The door, in part concealed, two monks discoursed. 

This, palsied limbs— that, a gaunt form betrayed. 

Drawn back, close wedged by struggling crowds, perforce 

We heard Saez' thrice repeated whispers, meant 

For Vinuesa's ears; and louder yet, 

The shrill responses of the unconscious dotard: 

Methought my burning cheek glowed thro' my visor. 

Mina. Rasher men had throttled the plotting imps 
Upon the spot. 

Riego. And ruined our cause. 

Mina. Nay saved it. 

San Miguel. Or saved or lost, well nigh the doubt was solved : 
For Baiios, muttering oaths, so roughly touched 
His rattling sword, that murmurs rose, "masks off!" 
What then our swords had done 'twere hard to say; 
But sudden from without a cry was heard 
That hurried all to view the fatal fray 
Wherein Mamerto fell. Thus much we gathered; 
That during night the troops of Infantado 
By stealthy march had reached Madrid, and now 
Quarter with Carlos. Soon the royal band 
With festive notes preludes the grand procession. 
Forth marches then the vast array of cowls 
And cassocks, to the sound of merry bells; 
While Alagon controls the restless crowd, 
Thro 5 its disparted ranks safe passage giving 
To the Monk-Monarch and his valorous suite. 

Mina. Would it might close at once and whelm them all ! 

Riego. A juster doom met not that wicked host 
Who thro' the parted sea, red with the wrath 
Of God, pursued his chosen race, and found 
In the curtained wave a watery shroud. 

San Mig. A crowd of bustling courtiers, monks and menials, 
With soldierly equipments scarce disguised, 
Deceive his timorous eye with show of safety. 

Riego. Yet a wild maniac's howl, the heedless laugh 
Of Bacchanal, or school -boy's shout of joy, 
Would make him quail tho' heading Xerxes' millions. 

San Miguel. To smooth his way, 'tis given out the King 
This day renews his oath to keep the charter. 



Scene 2.] the Spanish martyr. 33 

But Saez to bring the crisis on and strike 
A final blow, thro' Vinuesa goads 
The fiery duke and his revolted guard 
To outrage; theirs the shame of failure; his 
The glory of success. 

Riego. Oh! Rare Don Victor! 

San Miguel. Most fear of thee disturbs the King; and hence 
Thy army of the Isle dissolved; and thou 
On distant service sent loaded with honors. 

Riego. The price of infamy ! Honors, me thinks, 
Could honors flow from source so foul, would have 
The feel of guilt, and crush me with their weight. 

Mina. Fame hails Don Rafael Ruler of Galicia ! 
No richer gift hath Ferdinand to bestow. 

Riego. Hence needed for some precious renegade; 
Some high-priced traitor. O! Almighty Gold! 
There's not a brainless, soulless wretch, doth rake 
Thee up with filthy fingers, but conceits 
Himself a God, — and as a God is worshipped. 
Could Ferdinand think] — But no; a subtler brain 
Hath wrought that snary web; Saez, Saez — 

Mina. Say Satan; 
Who in the likeness of that Jesuit, rules 
The land. Who else had bribed the apostate Conde, 
Deceived Gluiroga, or durst now thus tempt 
The Saviour of the state'? But I am rash: 
Wisdom may turn to good gifts meant for ill, 
And thus make Vice against her will serve Virtue! 
Sooth 'tis a fair domain; and come the boon 
From whence it may, 'tis but thy due. Then take 
The demon at his word, and — 

Riego. Turn my back 
On Spain, while bigots swill her blood; abjure 
My faith; and sell my soul to Lucifer 
For thrift! Would Mina touch the damning bribe'? 

Mina. I knew thou would'st not, tho' the arch fiend himself 
Had shown thee all the kingdoms of the world. 
But wiser friends; men who have suffered much 
And now would die for Spain, or thee — Gluiroga, 
Arguelles — 

Riego. What! Arguelles too'? — 

Mina. More could 
I name, who deem 'twould honor thee to yield, 
Since that alone can give thy country peace. 

Riego. Peace'? peace] such peace as with Gluiroga dwelt 
In Alcala's dark cell, or cheered Arguelles 
Exiled to distant Ceuta: such as shrouds 
Mamerto's eyes, or sleeps with Porlier? No! 
Let them ne'er dream of peace till Spain be free. 

Mina. O how the slaves exult who plot our ruin. 

San Miguel. Good cause have they for joy : much on our feuds 



34 riego, [Act 2, 

They count; and treachery in our ranks; but most, 
On French battalions, like an evening storm 
Now sweeping over Spain. 

Riego. A gloomy prospect! 
And yet methinks before the blackest cloud, 
Shines the bright promise of a fairer sky ; 
And what seems fraught with peril, may bring us safety. 
Let foreign legions come ; they'll raise in turn 
A hurricane shall drive their columns back, 
Tho' denser than the hosts that blasted Egypt. 

San Miguel. Therein thy trust be mine. 

Mina. Then are ye both 
Deceived. What, know ye not the Trappist arms 
His faithful bands, in God's own name, to join 
His country's enemies'? 'Tis fit we look 
Our danger in the face. The homebred traitor, 
The foreign foe, the sinner and the saint, 
Daily invoke Heaven, Earth and Hell, to fix 
On Spain a yoke more galling e'en than that 
Thou and thy comrades loosed. 

Riego. Sooner, by Heaven! 
Their bigot heads shall roll beneath her feet. 

Mina. [Taking Ms hand.] We join thee in that pledge; but 
speedy act 
Must wait on quick resolve. The blow is struck: 
Aye, and the rill at dawn that trickled forth, 
From the poor Guardsman's heart, ere noon may swell 
A torrent deep as swept the streets of Cadiz. 

Riego. Who may such dread catastrophe avert, 
If not Spain's guardian sons who thus watch o'er her'? 

Mina. The man of Arcos and Cabezas ! who, 
Like glorious Washington, the first to raise 
The trampled charter of his country's rights, 
Waved it in triumph o'er the oppressor's head. 

San Miguel. A gloomier day hath come ; again 'tis prostrate ; 
Soiled with a freeman's blood. Raise it once more, 
And then indeed our country too shall boast 
A name, like Washington's, to bless and honor. 

Riego. Dear are the noble friends who thus would gild 
Riego's humble name. Oh doubly dear, 
Could they but teach him how to earn a glory, 
Next to the bliss of Heaven, the brighest boon 
Man's heart could ask. 

San Miguel. They will, or else their hopes, 
Now bright as Heaven, sink in the grave with Spain. 

Riego. The means'? The means'? 

Mina. A just and glorious cause; 
Riego's valiant arm and magic name — 

Riego. His sword,— and life,— -and soul,— all, all are hers. 

Mina. What need we more'? save the stout hearts and true 
Who only ask that thou shouldst lead them on! 



Scene 2.] the Spanish martyr. 35 

Riego. Leader of the brave ! battling for right! 

glorious thought! — But — pardon me, my friends: 
No, no! 'Twas selfish. 

Mina. Selfish'? 

San Miguel. Selfish, — sayst thou*? 

Riego. Presumptuous; rash: it should not — must not be. 

San Miguel. Thou'lt not refuse? — 

Mina. Refuse? Foremost to front 
His country's foes? I'll not believe it — tho' 
Hell's swarthy monk did lead them on. What heart 
True to the cause could shrinks 

Riego. The bravest, Mina; 
The bravest well might pause to assume a trust 
Fraught with his country's fate, while generous friends — 
Worthier that honored post — 

Mina. Hold! Hold! None worthier; 
None but will proudly share thy toils; thy glory. 
Riego's faithful soldiers; if thou wilt, 
His friends, his brethren. Spain, thy mother, turns 
To her Riego. 

Riego. O place me where best 

1 may serve her; there will I stand — or fall. 

San Miguel. There spoke her son. 

Riego. [Taking their hands.] Whose title none shall doubt, 
While thou and Mina own him for a brother. 

Mina. A proof more stern her need demands, and time 
Speeds on the trial. 

San Miguel. The hour approaches we 
Should meet our friends. 

Mina. Haste we the joyous pledge 
To give, that soon they shall embrace their chief. 

Riego. The place? — 

San Miguel. Beneath the lofty elms that skirt 
The Prado's midmost walk — in guise like this. 

San Miguel and Mina. Adieu ! Adieu ! 

Riego. Adieu, my friends. [Exeunt Mina and San Miguel. 

Riego, Solus. 

This day against unhappy Spain, once more 
A son uplifts his parricidal hand. 
O Father! Turn the unnatural steel aside; 
Or if in blood 'tis fated to be died, 
From her loved breast let mine avert its aim, 
And spare thy Heavens a scene of deepest guilt and shame. 

[Exit. 



4* 



36 riego, [Act 2, 



SCENE III. 

The Tambour Hall. King Ferdinand in his Chair of State, em- 
broidering the Robe ; Saez; the Nuncio; Chamorro; Ladies; 
Courtiers; Monks. A Band of Music without, flaying King 
Ferdinand's March. Music ceases. 

K. Ferdinand. 'Tis done! 'Tis done! Haste now: the fringe ! 
the fringe! [Exit First Lady. 

The Tambour Frame is removed. Then enter in procession, masked 
Figures of Moors, Egyptians, Gigantic Men and Women. Then. 
Boys dancing with Hoops and Bells. Re-enter First Lady. 

First Lady. {Bringing fringes.} What color would your Ma- 
jesty choose % 

K. Ferdinand. Let rne think : — Black 1 What say ye ? 

Courtiers, Ladies. It should be black. 

Chamoiro. Don Pedro likes it not. 

K. Ferdinand. In sooth, Chamorro, mourning is a dismal 
sight. White now, methinks — 

Courtiers, Ladies. O! Much better! Clearly! Decidedly! 

First Courtier. Why, we call white the Virgin's color. 

Second Courtier. The happiest day of our lives we are clothed 
in white. 

Chamorro. And geese every day : most happy geese. 

First Monk. The snows from Heaven are white. 

Chamorro. So are an Old Friar's locks— beneath his cowl. 

K.Ferdinand. Chamorro's hard to please. After all, blue 
most strikes my fancy. 

First Courtier. Now I protest I was just thinking of blue. 

Second Monk. 'Tis the very hue of Heaven itself. 

K. Ferdinand. And of sweet Carlota's eyes : [Aside to second 
Lady.] And there's Heaven in them. [Aside.] How charm- 
ingly she blushes ! It shall be blue. 

Ladies, Courtiers. Blue is best ; by all means, blue. 

First Courtier. A bright thought; was't not'? 

Courtiers. Brilliant ! Wonderfully brilliant. 

K. Ferdinand. What says Chamorro 1 

Chamorro. Don Pedro likes it not. 

Courtiers. [Laughing.] O ! Wise Chamorro ! 

K. Ferdinand. How ! Pray will your Sapience make a better 
choice 1 

Chamorro. Freely : for your wise counsellors forget, as does 
Majesty, the color ye all like most : — the Queen of Colors. 

First Courtier. The fool means red. 

Chamorro. That's true. [Points at him.] The fool means 
red: Don Pedro means — [Laughs]— All at fault? 

K. Ferdinand. Say: Speak at once. 

Chamorro. [Shoioing Gold.] Behold! 



Scene 3.] the Spanish martyr. 37 

K. Ferdinand. By our Lady ! Chamorro's wiser than ye all: 
Haste ! Haste. A fringe of gold. [Hands Robe to the Ladies, 
who retire aside to put on fringe.] 

Saez. [To Nuncio.] Mark that! A Fringe 
Of Gold ! What think'st thou now of that strange dream 1 

Nuncio. A true foreshadowing of thy sovereign's glory. 

K. Ferdinand. A dream, say ye ! — of me 1 

Nuncio. A wondrous dream! 

K. Ferdinand. Speak, Saez. 

Saez. Your Majesty shall hear: — Last night 
A lovely vision blessed my eyes, prefiguring 
All the bright glories of the coming morn. 
As in a polished mirror I beheld 
The pompous cavalcade; the church; the throng; 
And chief— by man adored, by Angels loved — 
Spain's pious King, like Solomon arrayed, 
On reverential knee decking the Virgin 
With her gorgeous robe. That passed : a sudden glow 
Of heavenly light illumed my chamber. Lo! 
Beside my couch descends the dueen of the Angels. 
As rose the Virgin Mother of mankind 
To Adam's view, fresh from her Maker's hand, 
In shape as faultless as her heart was pure ; 
So, knowing no sin, before her votary stood 
The blessed Mary. Rapt, entranced I lay. 
As lies the happy infant, pillowed on 
The mother's breast, even with such full content, 
Such sinless ecstasy, my eyes did feast 
Upon her more than bridal loveliness. A Gloiy, 
Mellow as the rays which crown the setting sun, 
Circled her brow. Beamed her sweet face with smiles, 
More mildly bright than Luna, when mid-way 
Her course she lights the azure dome, and guides 
The lesser orbs through cloudless skies. Her form 
More perfect than did e'er enamored bard 
Conceive, its symmetry displayed through robes 
Of rich embroidery, bordered with gold — 
^ K. Ferdinand. Wondrous! [lakes the Robe.] 
Wondrous ! The very robe thy dream did picture. 

Saez. 'Tis surely so. Waving her snowy hand, 
Thus her sweet accents fell upon my ear: 
Behold the Gift of Ferdinand the Beloved ! 
Our Son shall hear his vows, his foes confound, 
And bless him ivith a long and prosperous reign. 

K. Ferdinand. Thy charming dream inspirits us afresh. 

Nuncio. Doubt not 'twill be fulfilled. 

K. Ferdinand. The time's at hand 
That brings the proof. See, Saez, that all be right. 

[Exit Saez, accompanied by Nuncio. 
[Receiving the Robe.] Think ye 'twill do 1 

Ladies, Courtiers. O splendid ! Lovely ! Superb ! Superb ! 



38 riego, [Act 2, 

First Courtier. Eight wonders now the world may boast. 
Ckamorro. [Counts Courtiers.] And just so many geese. 
Second Courtier. And that the first. [Points to Robe.] 
Ckamorro. Fie! Majesty the first of— geese? Wonderful 
King j to make a wonder: and most wonderful knaves to find 
it out. Nine wonders now in all. [Noise without.] 

K. Ferdinand. Hear ye the mighty hum 1 [DistoM cries.] 
First Courtier. Hark! Hark! Live the Absolute King I 
J Tis thus they shout. [Shouts continue.] 

Re-enter Nuncio. 

K. Ferdinand. His Eminence returns ! 

Nuncio. Your Majesty 
Shall see a sight to make ye proud : a host 
Who yearn to greet their King. Ne'er did these eyes 
Behold so vast a throng. 

K. Ferdinand. And loyal, think'st thou? 

Nuncio. No Rebel yet they say hath shown his face ; 
Save few who whimper round Mamerto's corse. 

K. Ferdinand. His fate a wholesome lesson, sooth. [Shouts.] 

First Courtier. Again: — 

[Repeats] Down with the Charter! Death! Death to Riego! 

K. Ferdinand. There's music in those shouts: but here is one 
Can tell us all. 

Re-enter Saez. 

Thy looks speak joyous tidings ? 

Saez. Too joyous nigh for utterance. Ah ! — The Rebels — 

K. Ferdinand. The Rebels 1— Well :— the Rebels— 

Saez. Fled ! — Scattered 
Like frosted leaves before the hurricane. 

K. Ferdinand. Joy ! Victory ! Victory ! But thou'rt sure of 
this? 

Saez. A rout ! A rout ! 

K. Ferdinand. All, Saez : come tell us all ; 
For much I marvel that our hopes, but now 
In the bud, so soon should yield us ripened fruit. 

Saez. The power that gave those hopes, found trusty hearts 
And valiant arms to avenge thee on thy foes. 
At first, among the crowd, seditious cries 
Were faintly heard. In turn, thy loyal guard 
Sent forth a hearty shout, cheering their Sovereign. 
'Twas echoed by our friends, who fanned the spark 
Till burst it forth a mighty blaze. Raised high 
Above the throng, good Vinuesa praised 
Their holy fervor: pausing then, with hands 
Conjoined, and eyes upcast to Heaven, he called 
Aloud on all to aid in prayer for Ferdinand 
The Beloved. Down at once the Faithful sunk 
On reverential knee. Alone, unmoved, 



Scene 3.] the Spanish martyr. 39 

Stood the proud Liberals and vile Zurriagists; 

With scornful looks defying God and man. 

Thus by unerring test, thy shepherd knew 

Thy favored flock, and marked the goats for vengeance. 

K. Ferdinand. O ! Politic device. 

Saez. A signal rose : 
Swift on the stiff-necked crew rushed gallant Freyre 
Pressing their flying ranks ; and still they flee 
Before his eager sword. 

K. Ferdinand. O ! Day of Glory ! 
The Blessed Virgin sure a miracle 
Hath wrought to cast our enemies at our feet. 

Nuncio. The dream ! The dream ! 

K. Ferdinand. Aye, a true prophecy. 
Fly, Saez ! Bid Alagon complete the work. 
Who spares a traitor now, rebels 'gainst Heaven. 
Haste! Haste! 

Saez. Your Majesty shall be obeyed. [Exit Saez. 

K. Ferd. What thinks your Eminence'? Should rebels look 
For pardon ? 

Nuncio. Here nor hereafter. By them 
Hell first was peopled. 

K. Ferdinand. So Saez holds : and thinks 
But for them Hell had ne'er been made. [Alarms.'] Ha ! Hear ye] — 
Again! Take this. [Gives up the Robe.] Hear'st thou th' appal- 
ling sounds % 

Nuncio. While Alagon commands, they're harbingers 
To thee of safety ; to thy foes the knell 
Of death. 

K. Ferdinand. To my misgiving soul they seem 
The prelude to disastrous issues. [Alarms.] Hark ! 

Nuncio. Remember, Victory's promised from above. 

K. Fer. O ! Frail the hope that's built on dreams. See ! See ! 

Enter Ugarte in great terror, ivithout Ms Cap or Sivord. 

Ugarte. O ! Holy Virgin !— I — have lost — my breath. — 

Chamorro. You'll find it with your sword and cap. 

K. Ferdinand,. Speak ! Speak ! — 

Ugarte. Blood ! Blood ! None ever saw more desperate fight. 

Chamorro. None ever saw more desperate fright. 

K. Ferdinand. All routed ? — 

Ugarte. Routed ! — Murdered. Poor Father Vinuesa ! 

K. Ferdinand. What mean'st thou 1 

Ugarte. The Duke — Alagon — pursued — 

K. Ferdinand. I know : — Pursued the rebels. Well ! 

Ugarte. Nay ! Nay ! The guard — that is, Riego — Mina— 

Enter Saez. 

K. Ferdinand. [ To Ugarte.] Away ! Away ! — 
Ah ! Saez, I fear the worst. 
Saez. I met Don Carlos : — 



40 riego, [Act 2, 

Scarce credible, the dire reverse he bid 
Me tell your Majesty. Poor Vinuesa! 

K. Ferdinand. Our good confessor — say! O! What of him'? 

Saez. Seized by the infuriate mob, of treasonous plot 
Accused, his sacred office, loyalty 
And age marked him for vengeance ; low he lies 
Beneath the spot where but a moment since 
His stifled voice breathed orisons to God. 

K. Fer. We feel his doom as 'twere our own. Haste, Saez ! 
Bid the rash Duke spare further blood, and hither 
Bring back our guard. Haste, Saez ! 

Saez. Would that he might ! 
The impetuous Duke 

K. Ferdinand. Ha ! Murdered too 1 

Saez. Not slain, 
But snared by wily foes ; their flight a feint 
To hem him in ! Reaching the Prado, off 
At once fell cloak and cowl from seeming Monks, 
And lo ! in midst he stood of martial band, 
Their bright swords gleaming in the sun. Fierce Mina 
Fast mows down their ranks, while desperate Riego 
Pursues the flying. [Alarms hard by.] 

K. Ferdinand. Ah ! We're lost ! we're lost — 

Saez. Be Saez' life the pledge for thine. 'Tis Heaven 
To their undoing tempts them on, that thou 
May'st reign in peace. 

K. Ferdinand. Talk not of peace ! [Alarms.] The peace 
Of gleaming swords, of savage yells. They come! 
O ! Saez ! In thee, next Heaven, is all my trust. 

Enter Riego, Mortllo, Banos, Ruts, Ferrer, and Soldwrs. 

Chamorro. Ugarte, the Courtiers, Monks, and Ladies escape, 

crying, Treason! The Guard! The Guard! 

Riego. Guard well the passes ! [ To Morillo.] 
Secure your prisoner ! [ To Bahos.] 

[Riego advances toioards the King, followed by Banos and his Sol- 
diers. Morillo and his Soldiers remain behind.] 

First Soldier. Death ! Death to the Tyrant ! 

Soldiers. Down ! Down with him ! 

Morillo. Nay ! Be that glory mine ! [Advancing.] 

K. Ferdinand. O ! save me," good Riego! Spare my life ! 

Rwis. He spared not valiant Lacy. 

Ferrer. No ! Nor the high souled Porlier. Life for life ! 

Soldiers. True ! Life for life ! [They advance.] 

Riego. [ Throwing himself before the??h] Hold ! Hold ! 

Ferrer. Never before 
Sheltered that generous breast a foe to freedom. 

Morillo. [Advancing.] By Santiago ! Were my Father's breast 
Sole pass to Ferdinand's heart, I'd pierce it thro'. 

[Aims at the King: Riego parries the blow and disarms him.] 



Scene 3.] the Spanish martyr. 41 

Riego. Thy fault tho' great, Morillo, finds excuse 
In well meant zeal. Spain yet may need thy sword. 

[ Gives Morillo his sword. 

Morillo. Morillo's sword ne'er failed till now, — foiled by 
A friend ! By Hell ! It burns to wash away, 
In blood, this first disgrace. 

Riego. A truer aim 
Had dimmed it with foul spots not time had e'er 
Effaced : but now 'twill win fresh lustre when 
Again on the bright fields of honor meeting 
The warrior's steel. 

Ruis. Honor o'er scrupulous 
Doth oft, like treachery, mar an honest cause. 

Morillo. Treachery could do no worse. 

Ferrer. Had Mina led, 
Our swords e'er now had drained the monster's veins. 

K. Ferdinand. Talk not of swords ! There is no need ; for now 
I know my people's wish, and before Heaven 
And them will pledge my royal word to keep 
Their chartered law. 

Ferrer. That word was pledged before: — 

Ruis. Thrice pledged, and trebly forfeit. 

Several Soldiers. Death to Ferdinand 

Riego. Aye! Death: — if such the nation's will. Till that 
Be known, Bafios will answer for his life. [Banos bows.] 
Morillo's place to keep the servile bands 
From hence, and intercept the flying guard. 

First Soldier. Death ! Death to bloody Ferdinand ! 

Several Soldiers. Justice! Justice! 
For Spain ! 

Riego. Who here may speak for Spain 1 Who rail 
'Gainst tyranny, and yet so well enact 
The tyrant's part'? Their will sole arbiter 
Of death or life 1 Who talk of justice ; yet 
Would in her sacred seat instate mad vengeance 1 
No! Spaniards ! Tyrant, murderer, as he is, 
Let us not stain our souls with crimes like his, 
And turn to frowns the smiles of Heaven, now gilding 
Our noble cause. — Soldiers ! Brave Sons of Spain ! 
Before her Cortes let Spain's faithless King 
Answer her stern impeachment. Not for blood: — 
'Tis for our country's right we draw the sword: 
Remember this, and let our watchword be, 
Spain! Our beloved Spain! Redeemed and free! 

[Exeunt Riego, and Soldiers, Band playing Riego 1 s Hymn. Bo- 
nos and other Soldiers guard the King to the interior of the Pa- 
lace. Morillo retires sullenly ivith his soldiers. 

Saez: The Nuncio. 

Saez. O conscientious ! Justice-loving traitor 
O law-revering outlaw! 



42 riego, [Act 2, 

Nun. Merciful 
Withal, his sovereign lives to attest. 

Saez. He doth; 
And to requite his subject's clemency. 
I laugh to see the valiant rebel marching 
Thus gaily to his doom. 

Nun. Rebels are they 
Who fail ; success makes heroes. 

Saez. He hath failed ! 
Foregone the vantage his rash valor won, 
And left unplucked the fruits of victory. 
Will Fortune, think'st thou, lavish smiles on him 
Who slights her favors? 

Nun. Leaves she not now 
His monarch in his power? 

Saz. A bootless bounty: 
Morillo would have rolled the monarch's head 
Beside his feet. Romantic fool ! 

Nun. Would that he were ! 
Not so, Saez, the world doth rate him. 

Saez. True: in the world's cant phrase, a generous hero. 
And such kind nature meant him, but o'erdid 
Her work, stifling the hero's qualities 
With seed of loftier virtues. Brave, she made him; 
Ambitious: Aye, he would be great; but yet 
Would shun the crooked paths which lead to greatness. 
Lo ! Clad in Honor's time-worn coat of mail, 
And brandishing on high the rusty lance 
Of Justice, like La Mancha's crazy knight, 
He sallies forth to right all wrongs; aloud 
Chaunting the praises of the mountain nymph, 
Sweet Liberty; a bold-faced wanton, eager 
To meet the ravisher's embrace ; in his 
Enchanted eye forsooth, a peerless angel. 

Nun. Verily, verily, thine is the land of Quixotes. — 
But if thou dost discern one ray of hope — 

Saez. Hope? — Triumph! Vengeance! Speedy vengeance on 
Its guilty authors. Come: Your Eminence 
Ere long shall see the mystery solved, and find 
Our barque in trim to meet a fiercer storm. 
The trusty Pilot of the State who sees 
The rising whirlwind in the playful breeze, 
Forewarned, forearmed, his helm serenely guides 
Thro' starless nights, and 'mid tempestuous tides; 
By Hope inspired, beholds beyond the gloom, 
The brightening sky its cheering lights relume; 
The winds that waked in wrath the mighty deep, 
Soft zephyrs gently fanning it asleep; 
And its broad face a beaming mirror glow, 
Showing to the Heavens above, a Heaven below. [Exeunt. 



Scene 1.] the Spanish martyr. 43 

ACT THIRD. 

SCENE I. 

An inner Court of the Palace. Morillo walking to and fro. Saez 
and Abisbal behind a projection of the wall. 

Morillo. [Pausing.'] Was it for this we made him chief* To 

yield 
The spoils we had battled for, — and won % 
Giving our vanquished foe his forfeit life 
To take our own 1 Abisbal's in the right. 
Aye! I mistook the Leader and the cause: 
Hell take them both ! [ Walks on. 

Saez. Our prize will strike at summons, Count. 

Abisbal. Think you he'll wait for that? 

Morillo. [Pausing.] He should have kept that canting homily 
To edify the Cortes. Ha! One blow, 
And all was ours, to carve at will. Gone — gone: — 
Power, Riches, Empire, bartered off— for glory! 
A moon-made rainbow ! Hail to the great Deliverer! 
The dauntless chief, who curbed Spain's tyrant king; 
Then bared his breast to shield that tyrant from 
Bloody Morillo. Yes! The blacker they 
Paint me, the brighter he shall shine: and here 
Stand I, much like a fiend in hell that's damned 
To gaze on angels soaring 'mid the skies. [Walks on. 

Saez. Now's your time. 

Abisbal. Nay, hark ! 

Morillo. But that his falcon eye met mine, this sword 
Had sought a fitter sheath than Ferdinand's breast. 
The Turtle-hearted fool! Why, what care I? 
Let Ferdinand live: 'tis just his hand prepare 
The cup shall recompense his savior's mercy. 
Hell's chaldron can supply no hotter draught. 

Saez. I leave thee, Count, no dubious work. Make sure 
your grappling. 

Abisbal. As with hooks of steel. 

Saez. Gold; Gold. [Saez retires : Abisbal advances. 

Morillo. My charge to arrest all friendly to the King. 

Abisbal. From whom 1 

Morillo. [With anger.] From — from the Military Chief. 

Abisbal. Riego? And durst he assign Morillo 
This catchpole duty'? 

Mor. 'Sdeath ! [Half drain his sicord.] But no — thou'rt right : 
An Alguazil might do such work as well. 



44 riegOj [Act 3, 

Abisbal. Yet soldiers must obey their seniors, Count. 

Morillo. He's not my senior. Death and Hell ! Must I 
Whose blood bedewed the distant wilds of Mexic, 
Crouch to this new fledged hero, who the while, 
Lay nestling in his downy bed. Pass! Pass! 

Abisbal. Such kindness to an old friend might cause thee peril. 
Pray take my sword: 'twill win Riego's favor. 

Morillo. Curse on his favor : — curse upon myself, 
That e'er I hearkened to his threadbare cant. 

Abisbal. The King knows well 'tis that poisons thy soul. 
Ah! Didst thou know his heart, thou'dst be the first 
To free him from the man he most abhors. 

Morillo. Should I not first then strike the traitor down, 
Who 'gainst his sov'reign's breast durst raise his arm'? 

Abisbal Nay — Pierce the miscreant first, whose traitorous 
counsels 
Seduced thee from thy duty. 

Morillo. I may own 
To thee, Abisbal, I repent the deed 
As one my life can ne'er atone: but still 
Hate from my soul the hand that foiled my sword. 

Abisbal. The King protests he sooner had met death 
From thee, than owe his safety to Riego. 

Morillo. Why, Count, methought Riego was the King's 
Best friend; his savior; and chiefest favorite; 
Ruler of all Galicia; is he not'? 

Abisbal. He spurns the gift, and now 'tis held for one — 
Wiser and worthier. O, what honors might 
Not thou and Ballesteros share, would ye 
But join to crush the mushroom patriot, who 
Detests all tyrants — save himself. 

Morillo. Could I 
But think — our gracious Sovereign would forgive — 

Abisbal. Hear it from his own lips — 

[Morillo beckons; an Officer approaches.] 

Morillo. Lead back thy soldiers 
Whence they came. Count, thy hand. I fain would speak 
Of this more fully with your Excellency, — 
In my quarters: — What say'st thou'? 

Abisbal. Willingly. 



SCENE II. 
A Hall in the Palace. Saez; the Nuncio; meeting. 

Nuncio. How seems the fallen Monarch*? 

Saez. Fallen, indeed! 
The wretch his mother painted him; without 
One ray of virtue to relieve his blackness. 



Scene 2.] the Spanish martyr. 45 

By sworded rebels hedged around, hard by 

The wrangling Hall he sits, chilled, pale, aghast; 

The image of a tortured heretic. 

The very rabble, awed by kings till he 

First broke the spell, scoff him as wont to scoff 

The baited brute who shuns the lance-armed Picadore : 

While he to win their vulgar pity, shaking 

With terror, feigns — an ague lit; outruns 

.Their asking; vows to shut the Holy office; 

Suppress our sacred order; and renounce 

Each attribute of King to keep the name. 

Nuncio. 'Twere hard to say which most to be despised, 
Thy craven King or rebel dynasty. 

Saez. Already Britain's Envoy turns his back 
In scorn upon our rabble court. 

Nuncio. Thus too 
The Nuncio should rebuke the Judas who 
Would twice betray his master. 

Saez. Nay, therein 
Thy zeal would err. True, Ferdinand hath twice 
Proved false to Rome; yet never with her foes 
Once kept he faith: nor means it now. He will 
Be true again— when the cold fit is off. 

Nuncio. Thou thinkst at heart he still would cling to Rome 1 

Saez. Must — as to life; so Rome should cleave to him. 
Fall when it may, the tottering throne of Spain 
Drags down St. Peter's chair; and blind our wrath 
To shake the pillars which uphold them both. 

Nuncio. Thy wisdom is the lamp shall guide my steps. 

Saez. A brighter light shall guide us both; Rome's glory: — 
And Ferdinand be the besom which shall sweep 
Her foes from Spain. 

Nuncio. Leopards may change their spots ; — 
What miracle shall give the Spanish hare 
A lion's soul 1 

Saez. A miracle indeed ; 
A Bourbon sent to vanquish and to save : 
Sure triumph in defeat. 

Nuncio. But say, good Saez, 
A captive as he is, how end his thrall, 
Ere reckless from despair his gaolers wreak 
Swift vengeance on his head ^ The means ; the means. 

Saez. Enough'? All means which serve the end; the same 
Which gave our meek society to sway 
The sceptre of the earth, and wield the keys 
Of Heaven: the same that served our great Loyola 
In straits more perilous, when piercing with 
A prophet's eye the stream of time, he spied 
Danger's grim form beneath its placid surface. 
Our Church, tho ; builded on a rock, he knew 
Must meet conflicting winds of doctrine; worse, 



46 riego, [Act 3, 

The mining wave of infidelity. 

Its steeple, topped with the triumphant cross, 

He saw already trembling at the gate 

Of Heaven: the magic keys had lost their charm; 

The pictured woes of disembodied souls, 

The boon, even of immortal bliss, dim shadowed 

Beyond the vale of Death, more faintly touched 

Man's sluggish soul, than pain or pleasure palpable 

To sense. The glory of the Holy See 

Inspired his thoughts : he sought, — he found, — the means 

To quell her foes and save her rocking edifice: — 

Uniting to Saint Peter's heavenly gift 

That Key of Keys which opes the human breast. 

Nuncio. A weapon surer than the conqueror's sword. 

Saez. More potent than the fabled lever — for 
It moves the world. Possessed of that, his followers,— 
Knights of the Virgin, Soldiers of the Pope — 
Went forth to cope with men — and conquer them. 

Nuncio. In Saez' hands it was not like to fail. 

Saez. Once found, it could not fail. Entering at will 
Sin's secret chamber, I explored, unseen, 
Its dark recesses — read the Statesman's craft; 
The Hero's fears; the Patriot's selfish schemes 
For public weal ; and found the paradox 
A truth — that virtue is but vice disguised. 
Vice, — a mean coin of basest metal, — passes, 
Ungilded, but for what 'tis worth; while virtue, — 
That same base coin with gilded coat, — is palmed 
Upon the world for solid gold. Pelf rules 
The mass: the elect by pride, ambition, 
Vain glory swayed. Hence Scipio was forbearing; 
Lucretia chaste; and Aristides just: 
Hence needy Cato spurned a bribe; and Curtius 
Leapt the gulf. 
Passing the common herd, 
I sought the aspiring chiefs; with odious truth 
Painted the changeful mob: place, titles, gold, — 
Convincing proofs; — gave to their eager hopes; 
And led them back by interest's golden chain 
To duty. Well; let moralists declaim; 
Say, does not Heaven itself reward repentant guilt 1 

Nuncio. The end doth sanctify the means; and such 
The golden tenet of our Holy Order. 

Sapz-. In brief, for one whose prudish modesty 
Declined the boon he craved, thousands I found 
More honest who obeyed their hearts: for one 
Riego, scores of Abisbals. Thus count 
We on a host. The High Grandeza, prompt 
To serve the King, that they may rule the mass: 
The Church, with pillars based upon the throne 
It proudly canopies, will lend its aid, 



Scene 3.] the Spanish martyr. 47 

Like Heaven's magnificent dome, to shelter that 
On which it rests: while those who won their way 
By noisiest yells 'gainst venal power, will prove 
Power's surest props. 

Nuncio. Yet what may all avail 
Against the million, and the million's IdoH 

Saez. This hour the million greets their Idol's triumph: 
Mark me: the next they'll tread him under foot. 

Nuncio. My heart revives: thou'st given me hope where I 
Had feared a wreck. 

Saez. O that the King had nerve 
To bear him up! The very dogs who, if 
He flee, will bark and bite, would, were he firm, 
Turn their vile backs, or lick his hand for favor. 
But soon our doubts must be resolved. Till then, 
I bid your Eminence adieu! 

Nuncio. Heaven speed 
Good Saez ! 

Saez. Short be the interval that parts us — 
Happy the moment we shall meet again. [Exeunt. 






SCENE III. 

The Hall of the Cortes. The Cortes in session. Riego, President, 
near a table on which are books, papers, fyc. On one side of him 
the Secretary; on the other San Miguel, Minister of War. Be- 
hind the President's chair, is a throne or chair of state, at the foot 
cf which stands King Ferdinand in the act of talcing the oath, 
vshich Riego is tendering, to support the Constitution. Over the 
throne is inscribed Fernando VII the Father of his Country 
In front of the lower gallery, Sovereignty resides essentially 
in the Nation. On slabs in letters of gold the names of Por- 
lier, Lacy, Alvarez. Alcevedo, &c. Separate Tribunes are 
occupied by the Q,ueen, the Infants, Officers of Government, Am- 
bassadors, Spectators, fyc. 

K. Ferdinand. And if in aught I act counter to what I have 
sworn, let my commands be disobeyed and held for naught. 

Riego. This thou swearest — by God and his Holy Gospels. 

K. Ferdinand. I do: and may that God so help me as I truly 
keep my oath. [Kisses the Book.] 

[Cries of "Long live the Constitutional King. Long live the 
free Nation."] 
Seiiors! Believe me on a monarch's word, 
Your cheering voices fill my heart with joy: 
Much too I thank you, for the kind concern 
Prompts ye to wish that I should leave Madrid. 
Briefly on that I would consult my council, 
And give anon an answer shall content ye. 
5* 



48 riego, [Act 3, 

Riego. Your Majesty, may not the Cortes trust, 
In this as all things else, will counsel take 
From Spaniards true to Spain 1 Thus will her King 
Compass her welfare, and secure a gem 
More brilliant than the eye of Brama's God — 
A Nation's Love. Ah ! Make that jewel thine ; 
And henceforth ever may its lucid beams 
Irradiate the throne of San Fernando. 

[ The King bows, and preceded by the Queen, tyc. retires, amid 
cries as before. He is met by Saez. The rod is replaced, and 
the deputies resume their hats and seats.] 

[To Sail Miguel] Your Excellency will please resume. 

San Miguel. [Reads.] We come as friends, to save you from the 
pestilence that ravages Spain, and taints with poisonous breath the 
air of France — [a laugh.] — To re-build your altars — to re-establish 
order, justice, and peace. Believe the word of a Bourbon — [a loud 
laugh. J 

Ruis. [Aside to Ferrer.] A Bourbon's word! Why 'tis as 
good as his oath. 

Ferrer. Aye, in France. — In Spain when one doth coin an 
incredible lie, 'tis called — a Bourbon. [Riego rings tlie bell.] 

San Miguel. [Reads.] A faction rules your land — 

Several Members. That's true! True! True! 

San Miguel. [Reads.] 'TVs time to check this anarchy which dis- 
turbs thine and the world's repose. Spaniards! France wars not with 
Spain. [Laughter and murmurs.] Sprung from the Bourbon blood 
I come to free your captive monarch; save your suffering priests — 
[Voices. Aye! Aye!] and rescue Spain from slavery. [A laugh.] 
That done toe seek again our homes, proud to have restored your hap- 
piness and honor. Louis Antoine. 

Riego. Senors! Ye've heard the high behests of France. 
Disclaiming war, already she hath forced 
Bidassoa's neutral stream, and plants her foot 
Upon the neck of Spain. Like hungry wolves 
Adown the Pyrenees her legions rush 
Upon our plains, eager for Spanish blood. 
Roused by the shouts of Spain's unfettered sons, 
All Europe's banded despots throng 

To forge new chains, — while England — Sidney's England — 
Unmoved, beholds the death-strife of a people 
Left by the world — in I he world's cause — alone 
To meet the accurst conspiracy of Kings. 
A second Bourbon comes to give us law; 
What honest heart but burns with shame to view 
A hostile banner flaunting o'er the land 
That gave him birth'? Shame! Tenfold shame 
On France! whose giddy sons erst seizing Freedom's 
Torch, fired her holy temple, and would now, 
Reversing God's great law, wrap th' earth in darkness. 
Must Spaniards quaff this cup of infamy'? 



Scene 3.] the Spanish martyr. 49 

Submit to a foreign yoke, — the slaves of slaves — 

Or will they not, forgetting private griefs, 

Brother with brother linked, in his own blood 

Blot out the footsteps of the foe, and teach 

The meddling Gaul, Spain needs no foreign hand, — 

And least of all a Bourbon's — to maintain 

Her freedom or her honor ] [Applause.] Senors ! Your answer, 

[Cries of Death to Angouleme! Death to the Bourbons I Riego 
rings.] 

Abisbal. Senors ! A hundred thousand bayonets gleam 
O'er Spain: your wisdom, still may rescue her; 
Your rashness make her fields a lake of blood. 
Is war a pastime, think ye, to be played 
With empty coffers'? troops half clothed, half armed! 
Dispirited 7 — 'gainst numbers twice their own 1 — 
Whom one day's march may bring upon Madrid ] 

Galiano. Who stops to count his country's enemies'? 
'Tis not their valor: — treachery at home 
Invites them on. Were all who murmur true, 
These skipping Gauls would show the morning sun 
Their homeward tracks upon the mountain snows. 

[Sev. Voices. True, Galiano, true!] 
Enter a Messenger, who hands a paper to the Secretary, and exit, 

Secretary. A message from the King. 

Riego. The Royal message claims precedence. 

Secretary. [Reads.] Senors: I have weighed your reasons for my 
leaving Madrid. My health, my conscience and the love I bear my 
people forbid me to comply. Of aught else I would confer , if need there 
be, through trusty Saez. I the King. 

[Great murmurs.] 

Several Members. A fetch! A trick! 

Ferrer. The King's old malady; a most civil, courtier-like 
complaint, — which at the Royal bidding, comes and goes. 

Ruis. Don Joaquin errs. 'Tis the plague which scourges 
Spain — not that France comes to cure, but that she seeks to 
spread. 'Tis named The Gallomania. 

Galiano. 'Tis madness — or 'tis worse. The Charter doth 
alone prescribe a cure; and that I now propose. [Hands a paper.] 

Secretary. [Reads.] Seiior Galiano proposes That the King be 
declared in a state of moral disability, and his functions devolved ad 
interim on a regency. 

Arguelles. Senors! Let not our Ruler's frantic act, 
The fruit perchance of evil counsels, drive us 
To rash resolves: — a mission sent direct 
May disabuse his mind, and show the gulf 
In which he else may plunge himself and Spain. 

Several Members. Agreed! Content! 

Riego. Sefiors! Is such your pleasure! None dissent. 
Valdes, Becerra, Soria, will bear the message. 

[The deputation retire.] . 



50 RIEGO, L Act 3 ? 

Ruts. Aye ! Seiiors ! Well the Royal Duke hath said, 
A faction curses Spain: — a mongrel brood 
Of Gallo-Spaniards, hatched in the palace; 
And longing now to leap into his arms. [Eyes AbisbaL] 

Abisbal. Arrows when shot in air may chance to light 
Upon the bowman's head. Abisbal's honor 
Questioned, here or elsewhere, finds a ready voucher. 

Rids. The recreant sword, which leaps not forth to meet 
Our country's foes, will never daunt her friends. 

Riego. [Rings.] Senors! No place is this for bloody feuds; 
Nor field for swords. Your answer to the Duke. 

Ruis. What need of answer*? Rather let us tear 
The canting manifesto into shreds! 
Then trample it beneath our feet— full in 
His envoy's face — and send him back to tell 
His master. [Cheers.] 

Ferrer. Nay, best use the trashy stuff 
As wadding for our cannon, and so make 
It carry its own answer back; 'twill go 
The quicker. 

Several Voices. Good! Good! Right! Ferrer! Right! 

Abisbal, Senors, this is no time for jests. 

A Servile. True, Abisbal: 

Abisbal. Nor will these air-gun pellets fright the French. 
The Duke still proffers peace: why spurn his friendship? 
Why doubt his royal word] 

Arguelles. I fear, my friends, 
Ye're rash with our good King's good Cousin and Brother. 
Hath he not led his Cordon Sanitaire 
Across our snowy barrier, here, — into 
The very midst of pestilence,— to fright 
It off with guns and trumpets] [A laugh] How then doubt 
His royal word — ye, who know princes are 
Mirrors of Truth and Honor] Mark ye ; France 
Wars not with Spain — why, no! She doth but send 
Her hundred thousand bayonets to ensure 
Our peace ! She would have us free — free as herself, — 
And sends her hundred thousand slaves to teach us 
Freedom! She would annul our naughty law; 
Giving instead, sage pandects — much approved, 
At Laybach and Troppau. She is our friend; 
Our ally: come to rescue Spain from — Spaniards 
And give her to the care of Gauls and Calmucks! [Cheers.] 
How can we thank enough such friends who, from 
Sheer love, would force us to be free] Wage war 
To give us peace;— and merely cut our throats 
To make us happy! But why— why, this vile 
Hypocrisy expose; seen and despised 
By every honest heart] 'Tis Liberty, 
My friends— that, that's the pestilence whose spread 
These Holy Allies dread— what tyrant doth not] 



Scene 3.] the Spanish martyr. 51 

But spite of open foe and prudent friends,. [Eyes AbisbaL] 
Spain shall be free. Let the proud Bourbon come! 
When France appeals to her crusading Saint, 
Spain shall invoke her God — the God of Justice — 
Who crowned her arms at Roncesvaux and Gtuentin. 

[Loud cheers from the Liberals. Several members of the King's 
party rise to speak.] 

Enter Valdes, Becerra and Soria, who take seats in front of the 
chair. 

Several members. Don Cayetano! — 

Valdes. Our mission fails ; the king declines to leave 
Madrid. To all we urged, he answered shortly — 
/ have spoken. 

Arguelles. And that his sole reply'? [The deputation all bow.] 

Galiano. Then I demand the vote : Who now can doubt 
A transient madness seizes on the King? 
Or he must be unkinged or Spain must fall. [Great applause.] 

Abisbal. His Majesty desires to speak thro' Saez. 
Would ye condemn unheard, or do ye fear 
Saez may confound your learned orators 1 

Bids. 'The Conde^s right. Our King's both deaf and mute. 
Let him then hear thro' Saez' ears, and speak 
Thro' Saez' mouth. 

Several Voices. Leave! Leave! a seat for Saez ! 

Riego. If none gainsay, Don Victor is received. 

[Saez advances and takes his seat near the centre of the Hall.] 

Abisbal. [ Taking off his hat.] Seiiors, let not unseemly haste 
o'erleap 
All courtesy. We hold the King as present; 
Yet sit we covered; and the threatening rod 
Retains its place. [All of the King's party take off their hats.] 

Galiano. Whence in Abisbal springs 
This new-born zeal for royalty'? this deference 
For rank, — though held by wretches who disgrace it 1 
I do remember now; for Caius Caesar 
His vile Courtiers claimed it, — and next, for that 
Far worthier brute, Caesar's fourfooted consul. 

Riego. Remove the rod. [The rod is removed.] In all that 
doth concern 
The King, Don Victor hath free scope to speak. 

Saez. Thanks, Seiior: thanks to all. And now since 'tis 
Our Sovereign's will, and Saez may freely speak 
In his behalf, I ask on what pretence 
The Father of his Country — so ye style him — 
Spain's lawful Prince — for so has God ordained him — 
While toiling for God's glory— and for Spain's 
By sacrilegious ruffians hath been seized: — 
Even in the sanctuary of his palace'? 
And now must suffer exile from Madrid, 



52 riego, [Act 3, 

Or yield his throne ? who will these mysteries solve ? 
Who vindicate the wrong?— -I pause lor answer. 

ArgueUes, O! Specious ignorance! Don Victor Saez! 
Adviser, conscience-keeper of the King, — 
Forgets the mightier wrongs his master's hand 
Inflicts — and innocently asks, how durst 
The tortured sufferers resist ? 

Rids. [Aside to Ferrer.] Now, Ferrer, 
Mark how the devil can plead : that monk will face 
It out, the ravenous tiger doth the lamb 
Pursue for very kindness. 

Ferrer. [Aside to Rids.] Nay, will swear 
Away the flying lambkin's life, on plea 
Of thirsting for the tiger's blood. 

Saez. Well parried: 
Arguelles shows his training, and would shun 
The point, — which met, might pierce too sharply. Not Saez' — 
Nor yet the King's misdeeds the question now, 
As he would have it — but yours, my Senors, yours. 
Your warrant! Aye the law!— Ye stickJe much 
For law — which makes ye greater than your monarch: 
Your law! your law! 

ArgueUes. And why may we, too, not 
Appeal to that high source whence tyrants falsely 
Deduce their fell prerogatives, and say — 
The law divine, with life impressed on all 
That breathe, taught us to stay the bloody arm 
Uplifted to destroy us? 

Saez. Wisely doth 
Arguelles cite a law from mortal ken 
So far removed, none may disprove his reading. 

Arguelles. Vainly doth Saez a law deny all earth 
Attests; proclaimed in thunders, that the deaf 
May hear it: traced in characters of light 
The blind must see. The new born infant owns 
Its force, and vengeful insects oft have taught 
It to the doubting sage. But if alone 
Saez know not, or knowing, disavow 
Heaven's holy law, Spain's written statute too 
Will he dispute— which holds all Spaniards, high 
And low, who foreign foes shall bring within 
Her realm, or aid them there, for outlawed traitors'? 

Saez. Who gave that law to Spain? Who but her kings? 
From them alone comes all its binding force. 
Monarchs make laws for subjects to obey: 
Not chains to bind themselves. Sovereignty needs 
Must be supreme; and hence, above the law. 
The learned Arguelles scarce will question this. 

Arguelles. 5 Tis a sound tenet — strangely urged by Saez: 
For he must know, what Spain herself proclaims — 
That in the nation, not the King, resides 



Scene 3.] the Spanish martyh. 53 

That sovereignty he truly paints supreme. 

Ruis. [Aside to Ferrer.] The Jesuit's answered, now. 

Ferrer. Who conquers him, beats Lucifer. 

Saez. Error on error piled — is error still: 
Your boasted edict smacks of its earthy source. 
From human statutes kings derive no power; 
Brook no restraint. From loftier fountains flow 
Their vast prerogatives. Ambassadors 
From God, they are a law unto themselves; 
Or only that obey ordained by Him 
Whose power they wield. 

Arguelles. Who plays the sophist now? 
Point Saez to heaven, he cannot soar so high : 
To earth, — he cannot stoop so low. But now 
The sky's dense curtain from his eye concealed 
Nature's first law; now 'tis a veil of gossamer 
To show the tyrant's patent. [Applause.] 

Galiano. Need Saez be told 
That kings ere now, who impiously have claimed 
A warrant from above for their misrule, 
Have fearfully been taught that not in Heaven 
Alone the power to check their mad caprice'? 
Doth he forget that Athens at a blow 
Cut off her thirty tyrants'? Tarquin ; — Caesar; — 
Have they not each immortalized a Brutus'? 

Saez. Come Galiano and Arguelles here 
To chaunt the praise of regicides and traitors? 
To preach rebellion, and to draw their text 
From distant land and age remote ? Our country, 
Heaven be praised, shapes not her polity 
By foreign models; nor doth precedents 
Supply to prop the cause of anarchy. 

Arguelles. All thanks to Saez, who lauds her bright example. 
Till Monks became her masters, in what region 
Of the earth dwelt spirits more bold and tree? Stern Aragon 
With rugged hand, throning his monarch, thus 
Addressed him. — J, whose power surpasses thine, 
Make thee my king, provided thou respect 1 st 
My rights: if not — not. And his lovely partner, 
The fair Castile, in her unwedded prime, 
Brutal Orduno and the stubborn Henry 
Stript of the regal robe? 

Saez. Our business, Seiiors, 
Is with the passing hour: nor leisure leaves 
To study now these ancient chronicles. 

[Enter a Messenger who hands a packet to the Secretary, and Exit.] 

Galiano. Shall we then paint our country as she is? 
The victim of misrule: — by her own sons 
An offering to the knives of foreign butchers'? [Murmurs.] 



54 riego, [Act 3 

Secretary. [To Riego.'] From Don Francisco Mina. 
[Hands the packet to Riego , who, during the debate, glances over it 
with intense interest.] 

Riego. [To Galiano.] Proceed. 

Galiano. Yes, my Seiiors ; a common instinct, 
May we not fear, a secret pact, unites 
Spain's servile faction with that Brotherhood 
Of felons whose misnamed alliance first 
In Hell was formed, to oppress the world : to make 
A spoil of rights without which man, designed 
To walk erect, creeps a dishonored reptile : 
To filch from him the liberty of thought, 
The freedom of the soul: all, all save that 
Which fits him for a slave. Behold your prisons ! 
The dungeons of your Holy Inquisition: 
Those tombs wherein the buried find no rest: 
Your racks — your gibbets — reeking with the blood 
Of Freedom's noblest sons. [Looks to the names of Porlier, fyc] 

But wherefore crimes 
Recite which fill the land with grief and horror? 

Saez. The crimes were theirs — ay, theirs who paid the forfeit. 
But why waste breath to prove before our day 
Spain teemed with traitors'? — None stands here so bold 
As charge his lawful sovereign with a crime 
Whereat his factious subjects dare take umbrage 1 

[Riego descends from the chair, giving it to Gener.] 

Riego. If truth be treason, mark me down that traitor: 
And be my head first placed upon the block. [Great applause.] 
A Turk,— a knouted Russ, — would blush to own 
The creed our Ruler and his serfs promulge. 
Not obsolete, thank Heaven, the lessons they 
Deride. Still — from above — the Thunderer sounds 
His awful edict — blood for blood — and Earth 
Responds. England struck off a Stuart's head, 
And France a Bourbon's; yet were Charles and Louis 
Patterns of excellence compared with one — 

Serviles. Treason! Treason! 

Liberals. Hear him! Hear him! 

Riego. A Monster — [Great confusion : Gener rrn^s.] 
A heartless, faithless, bloody Monster — 
— Whose guiltier deeds — [cries of Treason! Treason!] 
— Whose guiltier deeds, long -suffering Spain — would still 
Forgive. 
[Cries of T'eason! Order! Name him! Gener rings violently.] 

Riego. I paint a wretch without a soul. Let him 
Who will, find out the likeness. 
Saez. Name him; — name him: 

Riego. His name doth stare thee in the face. [Points to the 
inscription. Great confusion: cries of Treason! Brave Riego!] 



Scene 3.."] the Spanish martyr. 55 

Gener. [Rings.] Senors! This tumult may not be allowed. 
Members will take their seats. [All sit.] 

Ruis. [Aside to Ferrer.] A home thrust, Ferrer — Poor Saez! 
He's sadly gored : stock still! Dead! Dead! [Saez rises.] 

Ferrer. Lo! then! A miracle — the dead hath risen. 

Saez. And is it thus — [Muck angry talking and gesture.] 

Gener. [Rings.] Don Victor must be heard. 

Saez. Nay, let the storm howl on : its pointless shafts 
Harm not the sacred head at which they are aimed. 
And yet such scenes were fitter for the Halls 
Of La Fontana. Bold invective here 
Takes not the place of proof. Your proofs; your proofs. 

Riego. And stunning proofs they are. [Holds up the packet] 

Liberals. Hear! Hear Riego! 

Riego. Rather hear 
The witness Providence hath sent to vouch 
A treachery else too monstrous for belief: 
To tell us of a King— a Spanish King — 
Who would betray his country and himself 
To invading foes. 

Saez. And who shall vouch the voucher 1 

Riego. The King's sign manual — The attesting seal — 
See ! — Of Don Victor Saez ! Found on a courier 
Fast speeding to the camp of Angouleme ; 
And yielded but with life. The master-spirit 
Remains, — if not invisible — unharmed. [Eyes Saez.] 
Aye, adding guilt to guilt, but now suborned 
His high compeer in sight of Heaven to vow 
Fidelity to Spain while yet the ink 
Was moist, which ratified this perjured league. 
Senors ! Ye'll bear me witness, that so far 
'Midst Ferdinand's worst excesses, I have upheld 
The throne's just powers. He leaves us now no choice. 
My friend was right ; a moral impotence 
Unfits him at a time like this, to wield 
The nation's sceptre. [Applause] Senors! Ye've heard the charge. 

[Saez rises : Riego resumes the Chair.] 

Saez. Say that the charge were true, what answer due, 
But that the King, sole source of civil power, 
Like Him from whom alone he holds his crown, 
Can do no wrong. 

Riego. Hath Saez aught more to urge 1 

Saez. Aye, briefly this — 
That ye renounce all right to judge your King: 
Or hold his sacred person in duress : 
Restore him to his throne, and at his feet 
Contritely sue for pardon. — I am done. 

[The Serviles cheer: The Liberals smile contemptuously.] 

With humble thanks to all, I take my leave. [Exit Saez. 
6 



56 riegOj [Act 3, 

Riego. Senors! Debate is closed. The question — Shall 
A Regency preside o'er Spain? Your votes. 
[Deputies ballot, and hand their ballots to the Secretary, who counts 

them, and in low tone annoyances the result to Riego.] 
? Tis carried. Valdes, Ciscar, Vigodet, 
Will form the Regency, 'till Ferdinand 
Be re-installed. — The Cortes stands dissolved. 

[The deputies disperse, Riego by the door in front of the Stage — the 
rest by opposite doors. Confused cHes in the Streets of "Live the 
Regency!" "Long live Riego!" Presently, "Live tJie King! 11 
"The absolute King!"] 



SCENE IV. 

A Street in front of the Cortes-Hall — Riego and Mina meet, watch- 
ed by Saez. Shouts continue, "Long live the King!" 

Mina. Hark! Hear ye that, my friend? The King grows 
strong. 
With every league the Duke gains on Madrid. 
[Shouts ivithont. " The Inquisition !" " The absolute King !" " Death 

to Riego .'" "Death to the Nation!"] 
Ha ! Hearken to thy doom and Spain's. 

Riego. Not Spain's ; 
While Mina wears a sword. 

Mina. A toy, Riego ; 
An idle weapon; sleeping in its sheath, 
When it should free her from her traitor King. 

Riego. That blame, if blame it be, thy friends must share. 

Mina. A blame it is; a fault; a fa taf fault. 
Why throw the mantle of the law round him 
Who tramples it beneath his feet ? 

Riego. Because, 
Like him we would not tread it under ours ; 
Trust me, that State's enslaved where power abides 
In one, or many, greater than the State ; 
Tho' found in Virtue's hand, and used against 
The bad : the bad in turn will wield it ; then, 
What safety for the best? Did Mercy ne'er 
Ward off the stroke of Justice, few would pass 
Unscarred. 'Twere wanton cruelty to crush 
The fangless adder: reft of his bloody sceptre 
Let Ferdinand live: a hostage in our hands 
His fears shall guarantee Spain's peace, or else 
God's law as man's, give license to our swords 
To hew it from his heart. 

Mina. Heaven bids us bruise 
The serpent's head; we slay ferocious brutes: 
Shall these, by instinct ruled, be punished, while 



Scene 5.] the Spanish martyr. 57 

Man, reason-gifted man escapes, his hand 
Stained with his brother's blood 1 The despot like 
The pirate, foe to his kind, nor mercy shows 
Nor mercy doth deserve. But come ; 
My eager Navarrese our promise claim 
To meet half way the nimble-footed apes 
Who have already scaled the Guadarrama. 
Yon gathering clouds will make a brief twilight 
And favor our emprise. 

Riego. "Watched as we are, 
'Twere best not stir 'til Night's black shadow fall 
On the Earth : meantime let thy brave soldiers rest ; 
Then rise refreshed, and without tap of drum 
Thro' the hushed City make their noiseless march. 
At break of day we meet near Alcovendas: 
And ere a second dawn shall brighten up 
Old JBuitrago's brow, haply may give 
Our loving guests fast slumbering at his feet, 
Such greeting as shall honor Spanish hearts. 

[ Takes Mina's arm and exeunt. 



SCENE V. 

A Hall in the Palace. King Ferdinand asleep in his chair; a Page 
fanning him. 

King Ferd. O! Sweet enchantress! Stay! not yet; not yet — 
Thus then in chains of love — [Aivakes.] Didst see her, Gines? 

Page. Whom, Senor'? 

King Ferdinand. [Sighs.] I did but dream. — Go, bid Cha- 
morro bring my robes. [Exit Page. 

But now her palpitating heart met mine, — 
Which still, its wild emotion unsubdued, 
Gives audible response. Methought I roved 
A Paradise, like that the Moslem hopes 
In after worlds: — dark eyes, and blushing cheeks, 
And shapes of beauty glowed before my sight 
In angel radiance, and inthralled my soul. 
[Looks out.] How sweetly Night succeeds the boisterous Eve, 
Whose arrowy fires seemed pointed at my head! 

Enter Chamorro, Ugarte, Courtiers and Monks. 

All. God save your Majesty ! Long live our King ! 

Ugarte. Heaven gives thee back in safety to thy throne. 

King Ferdinand. Safe ! Say victorious : all Madrid did greet 
Our triumph. Heard ye not the shouts 1 

First Courtier. No voice did cheer more loudly than my own. 

Second Courtier. Heard ye not one above the rest, Long live 
Our King? 'Twas mine. 



58 riegOj [Act 3. 

Second Monk. Spain's absolute King! Death to the Nation! Such 
My shout which drowned the rest. 

Ugarte. But soon was lost 
When in yet louder tones, Down with the Charter! 
Death to Riego ! thundered from my lips, 
And straight was echoed by a thousand tongues. 

Chamorro. Don Pedro spied ye all, amid the crowd 
Burrowing like mice, 'till sudden rose the cry, 
Riego comes! and then ye scampered off. 
Pshaw ! God ne'er made Grandees nor Monks for soldiers. 

K. Ferdinand. [Laughs.] I hear the rebel dogs talked saucily : 
Chains, dungeons, scaffolds — 

Chamorro. Right! Right! 

Fing Ferdinand. Right ! — Art mad ? 

Chamorro. 'Twas right ! For then Don Pedro had been King. 

King Ferdinand. [Laughs heartily.] God keep your Majesty! 
Wilt see it done ? 

Chamorro. Don Pedro will; even now : This be thy dungeon — 
These horrid walls : there stand the scaffold thou 
Shalt soon ascend : [Points to the Throne.] and here thy heavy 
fetters. [Takes up the Robes and Crown.] 

King Ferdinand. Bright fetters sooth. 

Chamorro. Aye! But would Majesty 
Look truly grand — put on Dod Pedro's cap 
And coat, and — if thou canst — look like Don Pedro. [Alllaugh.] 

Enter Saez and the Nuncio. 

Saez. God keep your Majesty a thousand years ! 

Nuncio. Thy cheerful looks rejoice our hearts. 

King Ferdinand. Thanks; thanks and welcome to ye both. 

Nuncio. Good Saez and I have much to excuse this rude in- 
trusion. Speak, Saez. 

Saez. When his Majesty is more at leisure — [Looks tovmrds 
Courtiers, tf*c] 

King Ferdinand. Another time Chamorro shall have his jest. 

Chamorro. Don Pedro can take a hint. [Half aside to the King.] 
Majesty ! Beware Old Mischief and his Imp ! [ To Courtiers, fyc] 
Come, 1 smell sulphur. 

[Exeunt Chamorro with the Crown arid Robes, Ugarte, Courtiers 
and Monks.] 

King Ferdinand. They say I have lost my Crown. But see ! 
'Tis safe ! 

Nuncio. Yet traitors in thy name assume thy powers. 

King Ferdinand. Aye ! In Madrid. I still am King of Spain. 
'Till our great Cousin arrive, let them have scope. 
What thinks good Saez 7 

Saez. To crush them ere too late ; 
This night they meditate a daring plot — 

King Ferdinand. [Alarmed.] To-night? This dismal night ! 

Saez. Their purpose to surprise the Duke. 



Scene 6.] the Spanish martyr. 59 

King Ferdinand. Ah, then, the rebel dogs will leave Madrid. 

Saez. Never again to enter it alive, 
Unless in chains. 

King Ferdinand. Bring that about and thou 
Shalt wear the scarlet hat ere long, tho' it 
Should cost the dearest jewel of my crown. 
Thinks not your Eminence Saez would become it 'J 

Nuncio. That — or Saint Peter's chair. 

King Ferdinand. But say; thy plan ? — 

Saez. A courier hath been sent to apprize the Duke : 
Soon as the Rebels march, Morillo moves 
In silence on their rear. Thus hemmed around, 
In their own snare they fall, an easy conquest. 

King Ferd. Excellent ! Say, Heaven doth put the wretches in 
Our power — 

Saez. Smite them ; that so they sin no more. 

King Ferdinand. But then — my oath — 

Saez. No faith is due to foes 
Of Holy Church : such oaths no Christian King 
Is bound to keep. 

Nuncio. His Holiness, thro' me, 
Absolves thee from them, and indulgence grants 
To work thy will on all arch heretics : 
God grant thee power to crush them. 

King Ferdinand. Look to it, 
Good Saez. Ah! Now my conscience is at rest: 
Your prayers are all my pious labors need, 
To w r in the Heavenly gale shall give them speed. [Exeunt, 



SCENE VI. 

A Room in Riego's House. Enter Diaz dressed in a military suit ; 
admiring his sword : presently enter Riego, 

Riego. Dost prize that sword? 

Diaz. O Seiior, as my life; 
Oft ere to-day my tongue hath burned to ask it. 
A true Toledo 7 ? 

Riego. So thy father proved it. 

Diaz. Dear, dear remembrancer! [Kisses it] that daily shalt 
Remind me of his wrongs, and aid me to avenge them. 

[A tear falls on the blade.] 
Here seems an ugly stain. I'll rub it off. [Rubs it] 

Riego. Our soldiers now are furbishing their arms; 
Bid Roque help thee brighten thine. 

Diaz. I will; I wiZL 

[Exit Diaz. Riego looks earnestly after him. 



60 riego, [Act 3, 

Riego. How like his father in the flower of youth, 
When like a felon dragged from Santiago— 

[A shriek within: presently enter Dona Theresa in great affright 
as though pursued. A lamp in Iter hand still smoking.'] 

Doha Theresa. Off! Off! Away ! Ah ! Now I am safe. 

[Extends her arms to Riego, who supports her. 

Riego. What thus 
Alarms thee, love'? Say! Speak! 

Doha Theresa. I saw him plainly — 
Plainly as I now see thee. 

Riego. Whom'? Saw'stwhoml 

Doha Theresa. Twice, twice ! once in my slumber, — if indeed 
I slept; and, — if I sleep not still, — but now. 

Riego. Thou'rt much disturbed: thy heart still tosses wildly. 

Doha Theresa. The swell of the by-gone tempest: soon 'twill 
cease 
In this its happy haven. Ah ! a moment — 
I'll tell thee all.— Till a late hour I lay, 
Thinking what cause could keep thee from my side. 
The peril of the times, the snares along 
Thy path; a thousand anxious fears oppressed me. 
At last I slept, or dreamed I was asleep; 
And heard — or thought I heard — a well known voice 
Gently repeat my name. Methought I woke: — 
And straight before me stood the Marquesito — 

Riego. The Marquesito 1 — 

Doha Theresa. Aye ! Thy murdered friend. 
So much himself he looked; so mildly spake; 
I felt no fear: forgetful at the time 
That he was dead. I come, said he, Theresa, 
To warn thee of thy husband's danger. Haste! 
Entreat him to delay his perilous schemes: 
Else may my fate be his. Saying this, 
He waved his hand and disappeared. Ah then — 

Riego. Come ! Be thyself. — How oft hast told me thou 
No credence gave to dreams or goblin tales'? 
I fear thou art not well. 

Doha Theresa. I know thy thought: 
Am I Theresa 1 Art thou not Riego 1 
Hear all; then say if still thou deem'st me crazed. 
By this sad vision roused at dead of night — 
Thou absent still — fearing to stir, yet more 
Afraid to stay — I fled my lonely chamber, 
And at the door, with open eyes, beheld 
The self same figure haunted me in sleep. 
He wore the dress that graced his youthlike form 
That day he marched for Santiago, leaving 
His sad Josefa and his precious Diaz, 
Never to see them more. He passed me by 
As tho' he knew me not, his eye intently 



Scene 6.] the Spanish martyr. 61 

Fixed on his naked sword. Iran; I flew, — 
My lamp extinguished, — and in fancy heard 
His steps fast following mine. My brain indeed 
Is crazed, or else it was my noble kinsman; 
'Twas Porlier's self. 

Riego. It was; — [She starts'] his second self; 
The living Porlier; — in form and feature, aye 
In every noble attribute of soul, 
The image of his sire. 'Twas him thou met'st, 
Wearing his father's sword and dress, by me 
Till now, a sacred trust, for him reserved. 

Doha Theresa. Had I but known of this ! Dolt that I was, 
My fancy dwelt alone on murdered Porlier: — 
The man, the warrior chief; nor thought nor dream 
Of Diaz crossed my brain: or did it so, 
'Twas of the young Licentiate, poring o'er 
His darling books, or rapt in boyish visions. 
Forgive my weakness. 

Riego. Thou hadst forgot our boy fast grows a man ; 
His stature much the same his father measured. 
Yes: Such my earliest friend, when our young hearts, 
Smit with the love of ancient lore, and fired 
By deeds of ancient glory, first communed 
In Salamanca's learned halls, and vowed 
Eternal enmity to tyrants! — Blasted 
Were all his hopes! And Freedom mourns his fall! 

Doha Tkeresa. But Hope may point to Porlier's orphan boy, 
Whom Heaven hath spared, to twine around our hearts, 
And emulate his father's virtues. Lives 
Not Porlier in his Diaz 1 

Riego. Fond illusion ! 
We'll cherish it, and think 'tis Porlier's self; 
Surviving in his son to avenge his country's 
Injuries and his own. 

Doha Tkeresa. [Sighing deeply.] A thorny path 
I fear must yet be trod by him and thee. 
Ah! My Riego! Say! Should evil chance 
Be thine, what refuge for thy lost Theresa 7 

Riego. Come ! Come ! Banish the groundless terrors night 
Hath conjured up when all should glow with hope 
And happiness. Shall I recount our blessings 1 

Doha Theresa. Ah! Grant them all our hearts could ask: — 
of what 
Are we assured but of their loss'? [A knock.] Hark! Hark! 
What can this dreadful summons mean 1 

Enter RoauE, who hands a sealed note to Riego. 

Riego. [Aside.] From Mina! [Reads aside.] 'TVs rumored 
Angouleme, by a forced march, quarters to-night atAlcovendas or this 
side. Then will we meet the sooner. / shall be in motion ere this 
reaches you. Count not too securely on MoriUo. 



62 riego, [Act 3, 

Roque, my sword: — and thine : meet me in the Hall. 

[Roque boioSy and exit.] 

Doha Theresa. Thou'lt not go forth to-nightl — 'Tis late and 
dark. 

Riego. A call no Spaniard may refuse — a pledge 
To friends — 

Doha Theresa. Friends! Friends'? 

Riego. True and most valued friends : 
Ere the day dawn perchance I may return. 

Doha Theresa. Perchance; [Sighs.] That little word gives 
less of hope 
Than terror. Faithful Roque will be with thee 1 

Riego. He shall: — Seek thou our chamber, Love: sweet rest, 
And happier dreams attend thy couch. Good night. 

[Embraces her, and exit.] 

Doha Ther. When, when shall happy dreams again be mine 1 
We mark the ebbing current of our thoughts, 
But as easily may check the mountain floods. 
Ah me ! That warning voice ! That warning voice ! 
Reason may hold our terrors vain : yet Fear 
O'ermasters Reason and still shakes our hearts. 
Ah ! What is Reason but a faithless guide, 
The slave of Fancy and the child of Pride j 
Who boldly leads us on to Danger's gate, 
Then like a coward flies and leaves us to our fate. [Exit. 



Scene 1.] the Spanish martyr. 63 



ACT FOURTH. 



SCENE I. 

The country near Madrid; on one side a Sentinel on guard, on the 
other, in the back ground, the Pavilion and Camp of BALLES- 
TEROS. 

Enter Diaz hastily. 

Sentinel. Who goes there 7 Stand! The watchword 1 

Diaz. Arcos and Cabezas ! Is Mina near'? 

Sentinel. Some fifty paces from the camp of Ballesleros. 

Diaz. Show me the spot. 

Sentinel. I must keep in sight of my post : this way. 

[Exeunt. 



iCENE II.— The Same. 

Enter Abisbal /?w/i the Pavilion of Ballesteros : he meets Mo- 
rillo: Quiroga, unperceived by them, axlvo.nces in disguise and 
enters the Pavilion of Ballesteros. 

Morillo. What success 1 — 

Abisbal. O! Full of scruples; talks of reputation — old friend- 
ships — and such stuff. 

Morillo. He's a poor devil! He will not join us 7 

Abisbal. No ; but hath pledged his word not to aid Riego. 

Morillo. Thats' much. A half-way. villain! He will not 
cat his friends' throats, but will stand by and see it done. That 
fellow, Abisbal, would rifle a hen-roost, but fear to rob a church: 
forfeit Heaven, and yet not grasp enough to buy two masses for 
his soul. For me, I had as lief be damned for doubloons as for 
coppers. But come, our time is short. Bessieres ere this is 
nearly in gunshot of Riego, and must not be beforehand in the 
assault. — Honest Ballesteros ! Pah! {Exeunt. 



SCENE III.— The Same. 
Enter from the pavilion GIuiroga and Ballesteros. 

Quiroga. 'Tis not too late : I beg thee Ballesteros 
Blast not our hopes— and thy own honest name. 
Ballesteros. My dear Quiroga, 'tis a hopeless cause. 



64 riego, [Act 4, 

Quiroga. Let us then not survive it in disgrace. 

Ballesteros. Thou hast done enough for Honor and for Spain : 
Let me now make thy peace, and save a friend 
Loved as a brother. 

Quiroga. Peace with my country's enemies'? 
With her apostate sons 1 JNever ! He were 
No friend would urge it ; nor could I be his. 

BaUesteros. Then here we part. Would — from my soul — 
'twere otherwise. 

Quiroga. Thou wilt have it so. 

BaUesteros. May it not be — as friends % [Offers his hand.] 

Quiroga. The hand that's given in friendship to the f jes 
Of Freedom grasps not mine. From this dark hour 
A gulf divides us: — Heaven in kindness to us 
Both, teach us to forget we once w T ere friends. 

[Exeunt opposite ways.] 



SCENE IV.— The Same. 

Between the Camps of Riego and Mina. 

Distant Thunder and Lightning : Noise of a Combat hard by. Voices 
vjithin: "Surrender!" " Seize him!" "Seize him!" Combat 
continues. Voices again. u Our Sergeant/ s slain!" " Ho! tell the 
Count!" " More men!" il The Count!" The Count!" 

Enter Mina and Diaz, both wounded; Mina assisting Diaz. 

Mina. Aye ! Tell your Count his Sergeant's sent 
Envoy to Hell's Legitimate. I fear 
Thou art badly hurt. 

Diaz. I fain would rest — a moment. 

Mina. Do, do; meanwhile I'll stanch this blood: sit here. 

Diaz. First let me bind thy arm. 

Mina. A scratch, a scratch. [Takes Diaz' handkerchief.] 
Didst mark the new Monk-levies'? Ha! How quick 
They faced abtfut, seeing their leader fall, 
And cast away their arms to count their beads. 

Diaz. That dog fought bravely, though. 

Mina. By Saint Iago ! 
Had his vile comrades stood as well, we had 
Been stretched beside him. [Examines Dtaz's knee and binds it.] 

Faith, an ugly gash ; [Lightning.] 
Bad, bad: I'll help thee on thy horse, and hasten 
Back— Come; how far? 

Diaz. [ Walks with much pain.] Just there ; behind yon ivy. 

Mina. Stay, slay; I'll bring him to thee. [Exit Mfna. 

Diaz. Ah, kind Mina — [Frequent Lightning. 

Mina. [ Without.] He's not here. 

Diaz. Unlucky chance — 



Scene 5.] the Spanish martyr. 65 

Re-enter Mina. 

Mina. Not there ; — 
Nor near; the lightning else had shown him to me: 
'Twill serve at least to light thy way. Once more 
Tell me the very spot Riego holds. 

Diaz. In a deep thicket on the left — less than 
A mile this side the Holy Inn ; — there did 
We halt, hearing the French lay ambushed on 
Our route, while Spaniards dogged our rear. 

Mina. French Spaniards ! [A storm appraaching.] 
My life upon it, 'tis the wretch Morillo. 
Farewell; that wound will shield thee from the brave 
And thy Toledo fright the coward off 
Would harm a wounded soldier. [Going: Distamt cannonading .] 

Both. Hark! Hark! 

Mina. Ah, Boy ; this night brews fiercer tempests 
On the earth than in the air — [Cannonading — A storm.] 

Diaz. Again, again ! 
That's from the rearward of our camp ! 

Mina. Morillo ! 
By all that's fiendish ! O for a bolt 
Of Heaven's own thunder that should hurl him down 
To his native pit! ['11 make a circuit round 
The renegade and cut him off— or hew 
A passage thro' his ranks. We meet again. 

[Exit Mina the way he come : the storm increases.'] 

Diaz. Fly, fly, good Mina. O Heavenly Father! 
Thou sendst this battling storm — for thou art just — 
To aid the righteous cause: in Thee, in Thee, our trusf. 

[Exit, with great pain, a different way. 



SCENE V. 

A Banqueting Hall in the Palace ; King Ferdinand, Saez, and 
the Nuncio, at a table with wine, papers, ($-c. looking over a map. 
Chamorro o,t a side-table. 

King Ferdinand. I see — 

Saez. Thence to Vittoria, here — [Points to the map] — to-night 
At Alcovendas or perchance beyond. 

King Ferdinand. It seems a miracle. 

Saez. Two centuries Spain 
Withstood the power of Rome — 

Kimg Ferdinand. I know; and foiled 
Great Csesar Africanus. 

Chamorro. [Half aside.] By Saint Dominic ! That Caesar 
Capricornus lived to a marvellous good old age. 

Saez. — In two short weeks Louis Antoine speeds like 
An arrow through the heart of Spain. 



66 riego, [Act 4, 

Chamorro. [Half aside.] Yes, like Cupid's arrow, that sheds 
no blood. 

Nuncio. But yesterday 
As 'twere in Paris; to-morrow in Madrid. 

King Ferdinand. I vow my cousin of Angouleme should 
rank 
Among the greatest captains of the earth : — 
Napoleon ne'er equalled this. 

Chamorro. [Half aside.] A fig for Nap; T never liked the 
fellow since he played Majesty that scurvy trick at Bayonne. 

Saez. And think! 
Without one drop of Spanish blood to stain 
The snowy plume adorns his country's scutcheon. 

King Ferdinand. The more the miracle. 

Saez. The greater too the glory: 
For to him whose will is fate, belongs 
This bloodless victory of His Holy cause. 

Nuncio. A thousand, thousand years may He preserve 
His champion's life. 

King Ferdinand. With all my heart I pledge thee. 

Chamorro. [Half aside.] Don Pedro drinks, — To the bloodless 
Conqueror ? 

King Ferdinand. How as the hour draws nigh 
My bosom yearns to welcome him to Spain ! 
Had Saez not urged me to forbear, lhis night 
I had sought his tent. 

Nuncio. Trust me 'twas prudent counsel. [Tragala sung 
near the Palace.] 

King Ferdinand. [Starting.] And there's an argument doth 
much enforce it. [Music passes off.] 

Nuncio. Of late that vulgar ditty oft I've heard 
Sung in the streets ; what means it now 'J 

King Ferdinand. That Saez 
Is right, and I must lick the hand that spurns me ; 
And swallow down this cup mixed by the Cortes. [Points to a 
paper.] 

Nuncio. Oft nauseous draughts possess a healing virtue. 

Chamorro. Right, right, Great Eminence; one gulp, [drinks] 
— 'tis down. 

Saez. His majesty commands a charm shall make 
This bitter sweet: three little words — a cipher 
Of magic power, on their side counting nought ; 
On his, a Kingdom's purchase—/^ King. [Presents the paper.] 

King Ferdinand. Have it as thou wilt. [Signs.] My spirits 
Begin to flag:— [Sighing.] This scoffing serenade 
Seems as a blast of adverse fortune sent 
To chill my soul. 

Saez. Rather a favoring gale 
That drives the hindmost rack, and leaves no speck 
For fancy's eye mid the blue depths of Heaven. 

King Ferdinand. Was 't Fancy then in thee that saw but now 



Scene 5.] the Spanish martyr. 67 

Cloud upon cloud not faintly in the distance 

But rushing black and heavy overhead ') 

Was't fancy feigned the menaced ambuscade'? 

Or spoiled our mirthful banquet, mocking loud 

The storm's ill-boding voice, and war's dread thunders 3 

Ah! think! The valiant Duke, our only hope, 

This night may fall, struck down by ambushed rebels ! 

What then my fate ? 

Saez. A swifter fate shall cut 
The plotters off, and spare our fears for thee. 

King Ferdinand. But say the wild French legions take from 
ours 
The foul infection Spain first caught from France — 
Hungering once more for Bourbon blood ! must mine 
Not curdle at the thought 1 

Saez. The Power that led 
Those legions out of France hath filled their souls 
With zeal to uphold thy consecrated throne, 
And His primeval church. Faith too is theirs, 
All conquering Faith; and lo ! At her command, 
Thy Godlike ancestor's high prophecy 
Fulfilled ! Henceforth there are no Pyrenees. 
Yes ! Yes ! Eternal justice hath ordained 
That France, regenerate France, out of whose cup 
Nations have drunken and are mad, shall fly 
O'er Spain with healing in her wings, to cure 
The frenzy she hath caused. 

Nuncio. Ah ! Saez ! The dream ! 
Thy golden dream ! Hail ever blessed Mary ! 

King Ferdinand. That happy thought was rising in my mind ; 
Our son shall hear his vows, his foes confound. 
And bless him with a long and prosperous reign. 
Visions more strange than this have come to pass. 

Saez. Who doubts that Heaven in dreams reveals its will 
Doubts Holy Writ. Have we but faith, we have 
The evidence of things else all unseen, 
The substance of the things we hope. True faith 
Can never err, hence knows no doubt ; nor fail, 
For 'tis of God, and hence omnipotent. 
I go, and trust ere morn to bring thee tidings 
Even brighter than our hopes. 

King Ferdinand. Do, do ; good Saez. [Exit Saez. 

Never with truer friend was monarch blest: 
Not my own mother loved me more. 

Chamorro. Don Pedro knows it. 

King Ferdinand. We'll drink his health. 

Nuncio. Heaven, many years preserve thy good Confessor ! 

Chamorro. Good confessor. All one as say good Satan. [Aside.] 

King Ferdinamd. Health, health to Saez ! 
Henceforth Prime Minister of Spain. [All drink.] 



68 riego, [Act 4, 

Chamorro. [Half aside. 1 Over Don Pedro's head! Til join 
the church. 

Nuncio. That thought was prompted from above. 

Chamorro. [Half aside.] That's a mistake ; 'twas prompted 
from [Points downwards,] there: by good Father Satan — thro* 
good Father Saez. Yes, I'll join the church: that's the road in 
Spain for saint or sinner, who seek the precious things of 
Heaven, and would gather as they go the choicest fruits of 
earth. Yes, yes : I'll be a Monk ; Father Pedro ; Good Father 
Pedro — 

King Ferdinand. What mutterest Chamorro 1 

Chamorro. Don Pedro said Majesty was right: Good Fa- 
ther Saez should be our Minister of State. Were he to say to 
me, Don Pedro thou shalt be a Duke, the coronet would be on my 
head to-morrow. [King and Nuncio laugh.] He knows all that 
passes here on earth ; and there ; [Points downwards,] and well 
he may : for they have been seen together. 

King Ferdinand. What 1 — Don Victor and — 

Chamorro. And — [Points below,] its a true story; true as — as 
Don Victor's dream. [Half aside.] Yes, its all in print: a 
first rate mellow-dram. ; Tis called, The Devil in Ambush, or 
The Monk and The Maiden. See ! [ Takes it from his pocket.] 
Here it is. [Reads.] Scene the first. The Royal confessional: Dona 
Carfota at the Lattice — 

King Ferdinand. Carlota % Ah ! Your Eminence she hath 
an eye bright as this Burgundy. Well 1 Well 7 — 

Chamorro. Don Victor on his knees before Dona Carlota — Sa- 
tan hard by : — 

Re-Enter Saez. 

Nuncio. [Aside to the King.] In time to mar our jest. 

King Ferdinand. Ah Saez ! Thy name's still on our lips. 

Chamorro. Don Pedro and Majesty spoke of Satan — and — 
thou knowest the proverb— 

Saez. Peace ! Trifler ! Off! [Bows smiling to the King.] 

King Ferdinand. Go, good Chamorro. 

Chamorro. Don Pedro can find better company than Kings 
and Monks. [Points downvmrds, and Exit.] 

King Ferdinand. [To Saez.] Well, well? — 

Saez. Our courier hath returned. 

King Ferdinand. Outstripped the rebels 1 

Saez. Passed them hard by the Holy Inn ; Morillo 
Dogging their heels. Not far beyond lay camped 
The vanguard of the Duke; and nearer still 
Our fire-new convert Bessieres — 

King Ferdinand. Bessieres 1 
The rebel jacobin of Barcelona'? 

Saez. A penitent ; — a saint ; a very Dominic 
With burning zeal to scourge the sins he shared. 
Warned of Riego's march they struck their tents, 
And reckless of the storm press on to meet him. 



Scene 6.] the Spanish MARTyR. 69 

King Ferdinand. 'Twixt Bessieres and Morillo ! [Laughs.] 

Saez. Day must break upon his ruin. 

King Ferdinand. 'Tis wise to set the rebel dogs of France 
And Spain to tear each other's throats. — But come, 
Your Eminence must need repose. For me, 
Impatient for the dawn, I seek my couch : 
Not for dull sleep, but joy-inspiring thought, 
Brighter than brightest vision sleep e'er brought. [Exeunt 



SCENE VI. 

The Country near Madrid, between the Field of Battle and the Gol- 
den of Buen Retiro: a Cottage on one side, with high palings: at 
the door a Boy on the watch. Presently voices without, crying "No 
quarter!" "This way I" "No quarter!" 

Boy. Brother! Brother! They are coming. 

Voices within the Cottage. " Farewell ! " " God bless you ! " 

Enter from the Cottage a Soldier, followed by an old Peasant. 

Soldier. Farewell, Juan ! [Kisses the Boy.] 

Boy. Good bye, Carlos. [Exit Soldier hastily behind the cottage. 

Old Peasant. God protect and bless thee ! 

Enter the TVappist and Monks with Swords and Pistol Belts; Sha- 
kos on tlieir Heads ; Beads and Crucifixes round their Necks — cry- 
ing "No quarter!" "No quarter!" Ugarte in the rear convers- 
ing with a Monk. 

The Trappist. Halt! [To an Officer.] Search yon cottage. 

Ugarte. Whew! I am out of breath. 
[Aside to the Monk.] Art sure 'twas Porlier's spirit? — 

Monk. Sure as you are a living soul — I saw him hanged — 

Ugarte. He'll know me: I guarded him at Santiago — 

Monk. He came this very path after he slew brother Grego- 
rio. We'll be sure to meet him. 

Ugarte. [Shuddering.] The Virgin forbid! 

Officer. [Returning.] No soldiers there. 

The Trappist. On! Soldiers of the Faith! We fight for our 
altars and our King. Lay on, and spare not. Remember; the 
blood of Heretics and Rebels nourisheth the Church; and hath 
a sweet savor in the nostrils of the Godly. On! On! 

[Exeunt all except Ugarte, crying "No quarter" 

Ugarte. It's downright rash to be hunting up enemies in 
the dark. I'll beg for quarters, and so keep clear of the spirit. 
[Advances towards the Cottage Gate. ] 

Enter Diaz, lame and much exhausted. 

Ugatie. Ha!— The Marquesito ! [Runs in terror to the Pales.] 
Diaz. Hold! Else will I stay thy flight. 



70 RIEGOj [Act 4, 

Ugarte. Pray! Good Seiior! — Spare me! Spare me ! 

Diaz. Show me the Holy Inn — and I will not harm thee. 

Ugarte. [Aside.] Holy Virgin ! A fetch to get me in his 
power! [Aloud.] Aye! Seiior; I come [ Gets 7iearer the Pales.] 
O ! Good Seiior Porlier ! 

Diaz. Thou knowest me, then! — 

Ugarte. Aye! Noble Marquis! — When I kept your cell 
at Santiago, was I not kind? [Makes his escape.] 

Diaz. Ah! Conscience-goaded wretch! [Knocks at the gate,] 

Old Peasant. [ Within the Cottage.] Who's there ? 

Diaz. A wearied soldier. 

Old Peasant. Of Spain, or France 1 

Diaz. A Spaniard ; and foe to the foes of Spain. 

Old Peasant. [Coming forth.] Enter, Seiior, and freely, an 
old Castilian's hut. 

Diaz. Thanks! — but I must on, and need thy friendly 
guidance. 

Old Peasant. Whither bound 1 

Diaz. Back to the camp of Don Rafael; near the Holy Inn. 

Old Peasant. Ah! Seiior: Thy comrades thou wilt find 
where thou leftst them : — never to stir again. 

Diaz. Merciful God ! — What reason for the horrid thought 1 

Old Peasant. My Carlos stopped but to say that all were 
slaughtered, save a few now hunted by the Trappist and his 
Franco-Spaniards : Servants of God — dressed in the livery of 
Saints, to do deeds of darkness. 

Diaz. But — Don Rafael ! — Say — 

Old Peasant. Fallen, — Carlos doubts not — on the field. 

Diaz. I must have surer proof: point me my nearest course. 

Old Peasant. On yon hillock, the rising moon will show thy 
path : that to the right — the left leads to the Gate of Buen Retiro. 

Diaz. Thanks! Thanks! Farewell! 

[Exit Diaz with extreme pain, 

Cld Peasant Heaven help thee on thy way. 

[Returns to his Cottage. 



SCENE VII. 

A Hillock near Buen Retiro. 
Enter two French Officers^ conversing. 

First Officer. Battle? No! A massacre. We have made 
common cause with slaves and bigots, and are like to earn the 
fame of butchers. 

Second Officer. But Brother, you forget we fight for France. 

First Officer. Not for France; France pines for liberty: We 
fight for Kings :— to prop the Bourbon dynasty; sole thought 
of all the Bourbon race. 



Scene 7.] the Spanish martyr. 71 

Second Officer. Soldiers must fight, nor ask the why or where- 
fore. 

First Officer. Yet must I honor those who from their necks 
would shake the yoke that galls our own. 

Enter Diaz, who stops unperceived. 
That Riego was a noble fellow. [ Going.] 

Second Officer. Brave as Caesar — but rash — 

Diaz. [Coming forth.'] Stay, Senors! If ye know aught of 
Riego's fate — pray tell a friend. 

Seamd Officer. Ah ! — A young Rebel ! Shall I not cut him 
down 7 ? [Raising his sword.] 

First Officer. No, Pierre ! By Heaven thou shalt not. Brave 
youth, thy friend hath fallen. We saw the peasant who stripped 
his body of its garments. 

Diaz. I thank thee, Seiior, for thy sad tidings. [To Second 
Officer.] Strike now ! and thou shalt have the Rebel's thanks, 
and win favor from the wretch thou servest. 

Second Officer. [Offers to strike.] Down then — 

First Officer. [Interposes.] Brother! — Pierre! — Thou shalt not 
bring this spot upon the name our father left us. 

[Forces him off. 

Diaz. Is Death too blest a boon for me? O Father ! 
Give me to reach Riego's honored corse 
And rest with him — in peace. [Attempts to walk.] 

Enter Riego, in a Peasant's Dress; his head bandaged. 
Who passes 1 — Stand ! 

Riego. [Aside.] Ha! That voice! — I would hear it again: 
Say friend, 
Canst guide me to the Gate of Buen Retiro 1 

Diaz. It grieves me, Seiior, that I cannot serve thee. 

Riego. 'Tis Diaz ! [Hastens to and, embraces him.] 

Diaz. Seiior'? Senor?— Can it be?— 

Riego. What ! Wounded, Boy ? 

Diaz. This bandage hides I fear 
A wound more painful. 

Riego. Nay, I heed not that : 
Diaz, my hurt is here : cut to the soul. 

Diaz. Ah! Let me share thy griefs: —My comrades! say 
Who live ?— Who fell 1— 

Riego. Thou'lt shudder at the tale, 
Brief tho' it be, of perfidy and horror. 
Our secret plans some demon whispered in 
The invaders' ears, and led them to our camp. 
A sudden blast of cannon, guided by 
The tempest's flash, and instant as its bolt 
Swept thro' our ranks: half my brave soldiers passed 
From life to death. — Then fast from copse around 
Musket and rifle poured the leaden shower; 
As fast in heaps the mangled victims fell ; 
Myself among them, by a glancing ball 
7* 



72 riego, [Act 4, 

Of sense bereft. Waking, my wound I found 
Thus bandaged, and my head soft resting on 
A peasant's lap. Thro' dark and tangled by-ways 
Hither he led my steps ; then kindly forced 
His tattered garb upon me, now more prized 
Than monarch's robe, since giving hope to save 
My Diaz's life and making mine, grown useless 
To Spain, less hateful to myself. 

Diaz. Thank Heaven, 
Thou art spared to serve her still. But — my old Roque ; 
O say — hath he too fallen 1 

Riego. 'Twere well he had : — 
Wilt thou believe it, old Roque turned against us 1 

Diaz. Never ! O think it not. 

Riego. But now I passed him, 
Guiding the pack who hunt his faithful comrades. 
He wore upon his cap the servile badge : 
The conscious traitor knew me, but thro' fear 
Betrayed me not. 

Diaz. Betray thee 1 Sooner he had pierced 
His own old heart. My life upon 
Old Roque. Why he rocked my Father's cradle; 
His boyish pastimes shared ; his manlier perils ; 
Stood by him when he suffered; nor would then 
Quit his half buried corse, but rescued it 
From monks and vultures. Roque a deserter ! 
No, the dim light deceived thee. 

Riego. Treachery's 
The fashion of the age — But come, we still 
May join our scattered friends. Lean here. 

Diaz. [Attempts to walk.] I can no further. 

Morillo. [ Without.] On ! Who lags behind, 
I'll give his carcass to the hounds of France. 

Riego. We'll foil them yet. 

[Raises Diaz, and exeunt by the path to the left. 

Enter Morillo, followed by Soldiers, and by RoauE in the dress of 
a Monk, a broken sword at his side, his right hand concealed. 

Morillo. On! Soldiers! Whoso brings Riego's head, shall 
have its weight in golden crowns. [ The Soldiers steal off one by one.] 
Thou knowest the path 1 [To RoauE.] 

Roque. Full well, Sefior. I have trodden it on darker nights. 
At yon fork we take the right. 

Morillo. If thou deceivest me— mark me, old man ! 
Ill make a scare-crow of thy naked scalp. 
[The remaining Soldiers break off.] Back ! Caitiffs ! 
[Fires at them.] S'death ! Straight bring them back, else shall ye 
Swing together on the same tree. [RoauE goes a short distance 
and returns unobserved by Morillo.] This leads to the Gate of 
El Retiro. [Exit Morillo, on the path to the right. 

Roque. And if it does— hang old Roque's scalp upon it. 

[Exit Roque by the other path. 



Scene 8.] the Spanish martyr. 73 



SCENE VIII. 

At the Gate of the Garden of Buen Retiro : Riego attempting to 
force the Lock: Diaz seated near. 

Riego. This is some dungeon lock, forged by a Jesuit. 
'Tis vain:— Once more I'll raise thee next my heart, 
And balk the skulking hounds would lap thy blood. 

[Offers to raise Diaz. 

Diaz. Thy blood they seek, not mine : haste, then, good 
Sefior — 

Riego. Leaving my Diaz thus 1 Thou canst not think it. 
[Again offers to raise Diaz.] 

Diaz. Too painfully my mangled limb still feels 
Thy friendly grasp to encounter it again. 
Ah, go then, Seiior — 

Riego. What, again 1 — Boy — Boy! — 
But I must pardon this — even this — in thee; 
Who should have been the last to doubt my faith — 

Diaz. O ! Speak not thus : that steadfast faith it is 
Spain now invokes thro' me to save a life 
Linked with her destiny. 

Riego. That life is thine : 
Bound for the ransom of a son whose sire 
Oft perilled his for me. 

Diaz. 'Twas plighted first 
To Spain. 

Riego. Our country asks no service from 
Her sons coupled with guilt and infamy. 
Urge me no more to that Honor forbids. 

Diaz. Nay, Honor, Friendship, Duty plead with Diaz. 

Riego. My heart scarce listens to thy suit. Forsake 
Thee 1 No! By Porlier's blood— 

Diaz. O ! Shun the vow 
More holy vows forbid that thou shouldst keep. 
Ah ! How would Porlier's martyred shade be grieved 
Should Diaz bar the way to Spain's deliverance. 

Riego. Thou talkst but wildly, wildly, boy, as tho' 
Hope still were left for Spain. 

Diaz. It is ; it is : 
For Spain, for all, while yet Riego lives. 
Canst pause ? Then hear my vow : — By Porlier's shade ! 
I stir not hence to cumber thee and help 
The Hell-hounds to their prey. Fear not for me : 
Here is my shield. [Points to his vjound.] 

Riego. Proud Boy ! — But say thy life 
Were spared ; still must a dungeon be thy lot. 

Diaz. And what if thou remain 1 Death, certain death, 
To Diaz and to thee — for all thou lovest 



74 riegoj [Act 4, 

Vengeance from hands deep dyed in Porlier's blood. 
Lo ! Spain lies bleeding at her tyrant's feet. 

Rkgo. My heart bleeds with her. 

Diaz. Still thou lingerest ! 
Thy friends; thy suffering comrades; think of them. 

Rkgo. I do, I do : death-doomed they clank their chains : 
Hark ! From their cells their stifled voices sound 
As from the tomb. Methinks they call on me. 

Diaz. And yet, O God ! Riego heeds them not. 

Riego. Let me save thee — and then — 

Diaz. First save thy country. 
Take pity of thy wife : thy poor Theresa — 
At Ferdinand's mercy. 

Rkgo. Goad me not to madness. — 
I'll hurl the monster down the infernal pit. 

Diaz. A moment more her sole protector falls ; 
Ingloriously: his name the jest perchance 
Of slanderous tongues. A soldier's grave should be 
The battle-field; the bright sun witnessing 
His glorious fall. 

Riego. Fondly my Diaz hath 
My soul indulged the thought, thus gloriously 
To fall for Freedom's sake. Nor shall it now 
Repine ; for come what may, exile or chains, 
The flames of faith, the piercing crown of thorns, 
Still 'tis a Godlike destiny — 
The highest Heaven did e'er vouchsafe — 
To die or suffer for a righteous cause. 

Diaz. Ah ! Proudly could I perish by thy side 
If such thy will. But shall thy love for me 
Bring ruin on us all ? Must all our hopes 
Be buried with Riego, and lost Spain 
In fetters mourn beside her champion's tomb? 
No ! Not for this hath Heaven lit Freedom's flame 
In Spanish hearts, nor turned aside from thee 
The messenger of Death. 

Riego. How welcome ! Might 
Riego but redeem both Spain and thee. 
And since that may not be — how doubly welcome ! 

Diaz. Thou canst— thou, thou alone.— But see! Thank 
Heaven, 
Old Roque comes. [Rogue approaches.'] 

Riego. Mark how the white-haired traitor 
Steals upon us, his hand upon his poniard. 

Eider RoauE, his hatid still concealed in his frock. 

Roque. Aye, slay old Roque if you will, but save my dear 
young master : fly, fly, or ye are lost. 

Diaz. Did I not say old Roque was no traitor? 
Roque. Bless you for that. [Embraces Diaz.] 



Scene 8.] the Spanish martyr. 75 

Riego. Old soldier I have wronged thee — deeply. 

Roque. This the foul cause. [ Tramples on the badge.] Yet 
hath the cursed thing served a good turn. 

Riego. How earnest thou by it :— -or that Trappist frock? 

Roque. Seeing signs of life I brought a kind-souled peasant 
to dress your wound. A Monk came up and raised his poniard 
to pierce your bosom: 1 turned its point against his own black 
heart ; then wore my spoils the better to mislead the Cuban 
hound Morillo, whom I spied upon the hunt for you. 

Riego. And I could doubt thee— Ha ! could think to raise 
My arm against the savior of my life !— 

Roque. But could not strike old Roque. 

Riego. Canst thou— No: No. I should not ask thy warm 
Old heart e'er to forget — my unkind thoughts. 

Roque. They never reached it — but — Seftor — kindness — 
somehow— always chokes me. By Santiago, had I seen you, 
as you did old Roque, with that Devil's whelp, Morillo— and 
dressed in this Devil's suit — I should have thought you too had 
listed under Old Nick. But come, if daylight find us here we 
are but targets for the bloody imps. 

Diaz. Ne'er was thy honest face more welcome, than 
In this dark hour. [To Riego.] Spain now shall have her right. 
Heaven in thy place hath sent another friend 
To guard thy Diaz with a father's eye, 
A soldier's arm : to save us both from crime, 
And give our mother back her saviour son. 

Riego. I feel thou art safer with good Roque, than 
With doomed Riego. — Ah! My country tears 
Me from my friend, rending my heart in twain. 
For her, for her, I brave the brand of shame, 
And like a dastard flee from dastard foes. 

Diaz. Now art thou Diaz's friend : now, now, — Riego ! 
Victorious there where thou alone couldst conquer, 
Taming thy own proud spirit at Duty's call. 
A moment perils all : Mina awaits thee ! 

Riego. That name awakens hopes methought were dead : — 
Sure Heaven itself invites, opening my way 
Thro' troubled seas to rescue Spain, and lead 
Her suffering sons, — my Diaz 'mongst the rest — 
To join their country's jubilee, and chant 
Their soul-inspiring hymns to Liberty. 

Diaz. Ah ! Hopes so Heavenly shine not to mislead. 
Near where we met, an old Castilian's hut 
Will give thee shelter 'til pursuit is o'er. 

Riego. Farewell— to both. Ah! Heaven— and Roque guard 
My noble boy. 

All. Farewell ! [Exit Riego. 

Diaz. He's safe ! He's safe ! — 

Roque. Bless that little heart : the Marquesito was just so ; 
always caring more for others than himself.— But come — 



76 riego, [Act 4 7 

Diaz. Give me thy arm, good Roque. Thou seest I am but 
a cripple. [Shows his wounded knee.] 

Roque. Fy ! and I not able to defend you. That brute Mo- 
rillo, struck off my righting hand — to make me a safer guide — 
and then gave me my broken sword as a fit weapon for this 
stump. 

Diaz. Ah! Savage dog! — But more's the need you should 
tot again fall into his power. Do, for my sake, Roque, shun 
him; he'll not harm me. 

Roque. Hush ! my old ears wont hear you. Come, here's 
old Rocinante that many a time has galloped his little Don to 
fight the wind-mill— can carry you yet. [Stoops.] 

Morillo advances by the Garden Wall. 

Diaz. See! See! 

Morillo. By Hell ! The old Deceiver here, 
Before me. Ha ! Traitor, is it thou % 

[Roque rushes on Morillo.] 

Roque. Take back the name belongs to black Morillo. 

MoriUo. [Stabs him.] To Hell! To Hell! Thou doting fool. 

Roque. [To Diaz, icho supports him.] You never called old 
Roque traitor. Heaven — bless you — for that — and — pardon — 
all my — sins. [ Throws his arm around Diaz, and dies. Diaz rises.] 

Morillo. Away ! Stand off! 

Diaz. Monster! Thou canst not pass. 

MoriUo. By Santiago! But I must: quick! Boy;— 
My mission's urgent. 

Diaz. And thy bloody work 
And badge tell what it is. False to thy cause, 
Thou wouldst betray thy friends to chains and death. 

Morillo. No friends Morillo reckons in a cause 
Now grown so foul that Heaven abandons it. 

Diaz. Not Heaven ; but wretches who for lucre would 
Surrender Heaven itself to Lucifer. 

MoriUo. Beware! I am in no mood for parley. Off! 
My sword's impatient ; for my honor's pledged 
To bring Riego to the King. 

Diaz. 'Twas pledged 
This night to share Riego's perils — Back ! Back ! 

MoriUo. Rash youth ! That wound shall not protect thee ! — 

[Aimsablow oi, Diaz, but falls over Roque' s body, dropping his sword 
ivhich Diaz takes up.] 

Diaz. Rise ! 
Thy life is spared. 

MoriUo. Ha ! Foiled by a beardless boy. [ Aside.] 
Senor, this noble act o'erpowers me. Give 
Me back my sword — I'll forthwith to Madrid. 

Diaz. I cannot arm thee more with means of mischief. 
Thou art free to go. 



Scene 8.] the Spanish martyr. 77 

Morillo. Thy caution, cancels not 
The debt I owe thee: let me in return 
Safe conduct give thee thro' our scouts, whom else 
Thou canst not shun. 

Diaz. I fear not for myself 
Since he is safe whom I were proud to die for. 

Morillo. Riego'?— There thou errest: known to have fled 
This way, — the peasant's mantle serving ill 
To hide his warrior form, or falcon eye — 
He too must fall. 

Diaz. [Aside.] This wretch at least knows all. 

Morillo. Thou wouldst die to save him 7 ? 

Diaz. Freely. 

Morillo. Generous Youth! — 
I have a thought might test thy friendship. 

Diaz. Name it. 

Morillo. Stand thou his hostage ; or to be redeemed, 
Or suffer in his stead : my prisoner as 
Thou'lt seem, my zeal wins favor with the King, 
And thence the means to save ye both. 

Diaz. Art honest 1 — 
But now thou soughtst our lives : does hate so soon 
Grow kind 1 See there ! Morillo's clemency ! 

[Points to the body of Roque. 

Morillo. Yes, I was hasty — But thou saw'st he seized 
My throat. I felt as 'twere the gripe of death, 
And struck: — and yet I am sorry for it — Heaven knows. 

Diaz. [Pausing.] Thou'dst have me rest upon a broken staff. 

Morillo. Hast thou a firmer 1 Doubt my temper as 
Thou wilt — but not my truth. Say I repent. 
And long to cast aside this hateful badge. 

Diaz. Give proof, and cast it off at once — forever. 
Enter Pierre, passing hastily. 

Morillo. [Accosting him.] Friend ! whither so fast % 

Pierre. To spread the glorious news — Riego's taken. 
Dogged by Ugarte to Old Carlos' hut. — [Exit Pierre. 

Diaz. [Aside.] O God!— Lost! Lost! 

Morillo. [Aside.] Taken ! — And not by me ! — 
Then have I missed a dukedom. [Aloud.] Now thou wilt 
Believe Morillo 1 Ah! A wretched doom 
I fear, awaiis thy friend. 

Diaz. [ With great agony!] Thou'lt keep thy promise 1 

Morillo. By all that's true — and sacred ! 

Diaz. Take thy sword — [Hands it to him.] 

Morillo. And thine. 

Dio.z. Mine 1— Mine !— This sword 7 It was my Father's : — 
His dying gift : 'tis girded to my heart. 

Morillo. 'Twill still be thine : I hold it but for thee. 
[Diaz kisses his sword, then hands it to Morillo.] 
' Now kneel ! 

Diaz. "What meanst thou 7— 



78 riego, [Act 4, 

MorUlo. Down ! I am in haste. 

[Diaz raises his hands as in prayer.'] 
Now take thy sword again. [Stabs him.] 

Diaz. O! Bloody! Bloody Fiend !— But save Riego — 
As thou hast sworn — and I — forgive thee. 

Morillo. He'll rendezvous with thee to-night — in Hell. 

As Morillo is going, enter Francois and Soldiers, with Riego 
guarded : from the opposite side, Brothers of Charity who ap- 
pi'oach the bodies. 

Morillo. [To the Officer.] Ha, Captain! Thou hast caught 
the mighty hero. 
Riego eyes him with disdain. Francois does not notice him. 

Francois. [Observing the bodies.] See! 'tis the youth I passed 
some half hour since ! — 

Riego. My Boy ! My gallant Boy ! — And faithful Roque ! 
Sehor — one moment : he — that youth was — was 
My friend's son : reared from infancy — as mine. 

Francois. This feeling honors thee : pray take thy time. 

First Monk. Lo ! Youth's hot current and the chilly stream 
Of age — poured forth and mingling into one. 
A feast for Glory's crimson lip. 

Morillo. Pray, Senor, 
When will his Highness, think you, reach Madrid'? 

Francois. [Much absorbed.] Exactly — As thou sayest — 

Morillo. He heeds me not. 

First Monk. Behold the work of war — waged not by fiends, 
Nor brutes — but Christians in a Christian land. 
And they who wield aloft the club of Cain, 
And banquet on their brother's blood, dare call 
Themselves the followers of Him, whose mission 
On Earth was peace — 

Riego. [Half aside.] No — 'twas delusion — yet— me thought 
he breathed. 

Morillo. [ To Francois!] The rich reward 
Thy service earns, thy tardiness may lose. 

Francois. I ask for none— nor would I harrow up 
That brave man's feelings — for thy Kingdom's mines. 

Riego. He breathes ! He breathes ! [Raises Diaz's head. 

Diaz. Thanks — good friend — 

Riego. Diaz! Speak 
Again. Dost know me — Riego 1 

Diaz. [Opening his eyes.] Ah ! — Thanks to Heaven — 
Senor !— O False Morillo !— 

Riego. Speak ! — 

Diaz. Disarmed — 
He begged his sword — then — by — false promises — 
Filched mine — and struck— here. 

Riego. Faithless, ruthless butcher ! 

Diaz. He could not — murder— thee : gracious Heaven — I— 
Ah! Here— on poor old— Roque. [Sleeps.] 



Scene 9.] the Spanish martyr. 79 

Riego. [To Morillo.] Look here! Nearer; — 
[Morillo approaches with averted eyes.] 
Behold thy work ! Look ! Look ! He smiles as though 
Some blissful vision beamed upon his soul. 

Diaz. He's safe — Riego's — safe; and Diaz — happy. [Dies.] 

Riego. Aye, happy art thou, noble youth. Owns earth 
Or hell another fiend had done this deed ?— 

Morillo. S'death! [Half draws.] But thou'rt fettered; else 
my sword might rob 
The gallows of its due. 

Riego. Base craven, no : 
But for these chains thou durst not look me in 
The face. [Morillo draws. 

Francois. Your pardon, sir; he is my prisoner. — Prithee 
Stand back. 

Riego. Kind sir, one favor more — In the same grave 
Let these brave soldiers rest. 

First Brother. Be that our charge. 

Riego. I should have known thy mission. Would that all 
Who wear the garb of piety were such 

As ye are— friends of the friendless. [ Gives money as does Fran- 
cois.] 

First Brother. Thanks, Seiiors! 
In their last bed thy friends shall rest as now. 

[ The Brothers of Charity remove the bodies.] 

Riego. [To Morillo.] There shall thy butchered victims 
find that peace 
Thou ne'er canst know; while every honest heart 
Shall own their worth, and curse the wretch who smote them. 
[Exeunt Francois with Riego one way; Morillo another. 



SCENE IX. 

A Room in the Palace next the King's Chamber. Tivo Monteros 
near his door. 

Enter Saez. 

Saez. [Softly.] Is his Majesty awake? 

First Montero. He hath not slept. [The King stirs.] 

King Ferdinand. [Within.] Who spoke? 

First Montero. Don Victor Saez. 

King Ferdinand. [ Within.] Lights ! Lights. 

The Monteros bear lights within: Enter King Ferdinand. 

Saez. God save your Majesty. 
King Ferdinand. What tidings, say 1 
Saez. All we could ask is ours: our foes subdued: 
Riego captured — Mina flying for life. 



80 RIEGOj [Act 4, 

King Ferdinand. Tell me that again — 
But first my valiant cousin— How near Madrid ? 

Saez. A short day's march may bring him to thy arms. 

King Ferdinand. Feel here! 'tis joy. Riego slain; our gaoler! 

Saez. Not slain: reserved for fitter death. 

King Ferdinand. Ah ! true : 
The rack! the rack! and then the gibbet. Aye! 

Saez. No less the doom his crimes incur. 

King Ferdinand. And yet 
The wretch twice rescued me from death: I'll think 
Of this again. He's safe?— Thou sayest? 

Saez. Safe? Safe?— 
The Holy Office must answer thee for that. 

King Ferdinand. He'll scarce elude her watch and ward, me- 
thinks ? 

Saez, Guards have been bribed, and dungeons forced j no 
guard 
Is safe, but one; no vault secure save his. 
Should he escape — 

King Ferdinand. Escape ? — that must not be. 
But say, how chanced the rebel chief, thus taken 
At fault? 

Saez. By trusting rebels like himself. 
Morillo thirsted for his blood as once 
For thine; Ballesieros, conscience smitten, 
Yielded without a blow. Heaven stood thy friend ; 
Making the traitors thus betray each other; 
'Twas Heaven's own lightnings pointed out their camp; 
While thunders louder than oar guns dismayed 
Their souls. Fierce Mina floundering thro' the storm 
Came but in time to share his comrades' rout. 

King Ferdinand. Ah Saez ! The dream, the dream is out. 
Seest not 
In this the Virgin's hand? 

Saez. Hail Blessed Mary ! 

King Ferdinand. Again unto my couch. Good night! too long 
By joyful hopes o'erwrought, my spirits droop. 

Saez. Ah! Let Content of Hope and Joy take place, 
And gently woo sweet sleep to thy embrace. 

[Exeunt, 



SCENE X. 

A Chamber in Riego's House. A Lamp burning. Dona Theresa 
reclined on a Couch; Inez sitting near her, asleep. A noise as of 
the wind. 

Dona Theresa [Half rising ] They come ! They come ! 
'Tis but the wind against the broken casement. 
He'll come no more! But then had harm befallen him, 



Scene 1.] the Spanish martyr. 81 

Sure Diaz had returned. Do you not think so, 

Inez? But no: Diaz would ne'er desert him 

Living nor dead ! — That thought doth crush my hope. 

[Rises and walks to and fro.'] 

The deep malignant monk! The chafed Morillo ! 

And such a night for all foul mischief. Oft 

Amid the storm it seemed as tho' the fiends 

Unchained, defied Heaven's scourging bolts, and peal 

For peal hurled back their mocking thunders. [Reveille at a dis- 
tance.] Hark ! 

The camp's harsh anthem to the Morn. [Stops at a window — 
A horn blows.] And now 

The early muleteer, on stubborn horn, 

Essays rude music. Doth my eye deceive mel 

No, 'tis the blessed, dreaded light of day; — 

Piercing the mists on Buytrago's brow;— 

But reaching not the thicker gloom that shrouds 

My soul. Ah! MyRiego! Nought, nought save 

The grasp of death — of death?— I'll know the worst. 

Inez ! Inez ! Rise ! Rise ! Get me my cloak ! — 

[Exit Inez, 

'Twas ever thus :— Ah, happiness at best 

Shoots like a meteor o'er the human breast; 

But yesterday the sun of joy rose gay 

As that which heralded my bridal day. 

In swift pursuit the night of woe hath come 

To cast o'er earth the shadows of the tomb. 

Fears fill my bosom of so dark a hue, 

No tinge despair can add, tho' all I dread prove true. [Exit. 



ACT FIFTH. 

SCENE I. 

A Cell in the Inquisition; Riego reclining on his Pallet. 
Enter Ugarte, with a "Trencher and two Covers. 

TJgarte. Thy breakfast, Senor; [Uncovers crusts and water.] 
Humble fare, but all our scanty means allow. 
This from good Saez; [Uncovers a skull.] a friend, he bids me 
say, of thine— 

Riego. Of mine? — 

Ugarte. Who, in thy lonely hours, 
May reach thy heart, and counsel thee to shun the fate 
Of unrepentant sin: — one Porlier— 



82 riego, [Act 5 3 

Riego. Porlier, thou say'sf? Of what was he accused 1 

Ugarte. O! Deadly sins; of heresy and treason. 

Riego. And would not confess 7 

Ugarte. Alas ! He died impenitent. 

Riego. Died? 

Ugarte. Aye. With stubborn hardihood stood out 
The question, and so brought death upon himself; tho* 
Warned the sin would rest upon his soul. 

Riego. Excellent! Suffering death sooner than slander 
His own fair name, and deemed — a suicide ! 
O ! Rare device of vile imposture, that 
By a juggling phrase virtue transforms 
To vice — picturing things their very opposites. 
Porlier ! — He was indeed my friend ! — A man 
Who practised virtues hypocrites profess: 
Who fed the hungry; clothed the naked; was 
The orphan's father, and the widow's stay : 
Who loved his neighbor as himself; and daily 
To his God the homage offered of a heart 
Upright and pure; but worshipped not 
His image of molten brass, nor gold, — nor yet of flesh 
And blood. Striving to break a tyrant's chain, 
He met a tyrant's hate ; and perished in 
The morn of life, victim of perfidy ! 
He was a heretic ! A traitor ! while, — 
O God of Justice ! they — they, who enslave 
And massacre mankind, are glorified 
As Gods ! In mockery of thee, tricked up 
In all thy attributes: — Almighty Sovereigns! 
And God-like Conquerors ! Priests Infallible ! 
Holy Inquisitors ! Most Holy Allies ! 
And why not too, Most Holy King of HelH 

Enter an Alguazil. He and Ugarte converse apart. 

But no: thou liest. Monk! That's not Porlier. 

Rescued by pious friendship from the moat 

Where Ferdinand's bribed assassins left him steeped 

In gore, his bones enjoy an honored sepulchre: 

Nor thence durst monkish vengeance rifle them 

To point its canting homilies, and teach 

How vain the hopes that warm a patriot's heart. 

[Ugarte takes up the skull — a label falls off.] 
But see! See! How thy falsehood stands exposed. 
[Reads.] " Dona Joanna de Bohorquez." 
Poor Lady ! Is it thou'? Will nought appease 
The human fiends that tore thee from thy home; 
Wrested the struggling infant from thy bosom ; 
And when that bosom ceased to heave beneath 
Their scourge, proclaimed thee innocent. Still do 
The holy hypocrites denv to thee 
The quiet of a grave 1 — enforcing thee 



Scene 2.] the Spanish martyr. 83 

In treacherous league to plead their hateful caused 
Monsters ! Monsters ! O, would that mouth 
Indeed might find a tongue, and those dark sockets glare 
With light, to scare ihem from their feasts of blood. 
How long, how long, ere Heavenly vengeance wake, 
And crumble o'er their heads these guilty walls 1 
Away !— Away ! 

Ugarte. [Aside.] Alas ! Poor sinful man. 

Alguazil. Senor, the Holy Office cites thee to the Hall. Come; 
Within we'll find a habit better suits thy present need. 

Riego. Lead on. [Exeunt. 



SCENE II. 

The Audience Hall of the Inquisition hung round with green tapes- 
try. Three Inquisitors in black robes, around a table covered 
with black cloth, on which is a crucifix ; green wax candles burn- 
ing ; pen, ink, paper, skull, fyc. Saez acting as Fiscal; A Re- 
cording Secretary. A Familiar. A large book open before 
the Grand Inquisitor. 

Grand Inquisitor. [To Rec. Secretary.] Observe this rule, — 
the next and last. [Hands book to Fiscal.} 

Fiscal. [Reads.] " Crowd not 
"Thy page with vain excuse or supplication — 
"Shifts to elude due penance. Scornful words 
"And looks; confessions faint or lull; response 
"Evasive; and not less, a stubborn silence, — 
" Sure tests of guilt — record with strictest care." 

Grand Inquisitor. [ To Familiar.] Admit the prisoner. 

[Exit Familiar. 

Enter Riego, guarded, and habited as a Prisoner of the Inquisition, 

Grand Inquisitor. Draw near, and heed the oath we shall pro- 
pound. 

Riego. All needless oaths were better shunned. 

Grand Inquisitor. Reflect: 
Thou standst upon a precipice's edge. 

Riego. I know ; and they who brought me hither, hope 
To cast me in the chasm below. Thus warned, 
'Tis fit that frankly I disclaim your power, 
Years past by our law annulled. Yet question what 
Ye will, true answers ye shall have,— or none. 

Fiscal. Thro' Heavenly grace our functions we resume 
To guard God's holy law; and cite thee now 
To atone its oft repeated profanation. 

Riego. Let him who charges me with wilful crime 
'Gainst God or man, confront me in the face 
Of day; and if I stamp not on his brow 
The brand of shame, your faggots be my doom. 
8* 



84 riego, [Act 5, 

Fiscal. All strangely in this hall, sounds oratory; 
Nor much this audience moved by bursts of passion. 

Riego. By whom am I accused 1 and what my crime 1 

Fiscal. Thy candor, Sehor, will dispense, we trust, 
With formal charge or proofs. Consult thy memory: 
Think of the past: of all thou hast said or done 
Irreverently against our Holy Faith. 

Riego. Nought of all this I think of which my heart 
Repents. 

Fiscal. If memory and conscience sleep, 
Or feign to sleep, our mercy should arouse them. 
Knowst thou this scroll ? 

Riego. Thy country's honored charter. 

Fiscal. "Where first proclaimed'? 

Riego. At Arcos and Cabezas. 

Fiscal. By whom'? 

Riego. Riego. 

Fiscal. Frankly owned. This volume 
Filled wilh the rank conceits of new world Liberals'? — 

Riego. That too was mine. — Its sins I know not of. 

Fiscal. Don Rafael knows all power abides in God. [Riego 
assents.] 
He governs man thro' delegated kings, 
And a still higher Potentate, Christ's own 
Vicegerent. This would teach us power supreme 
Belongs to vulgar multitudes, absolved 
From spiritual sway : And this Don Rafael holds 1 

Riego. And none denies, who would not forge the seal 
Of Heaven's Great Judge, and truth and justice raze 
From his revealed decrees, that Bigotry 
May rule a world benighted and corrupt. 
Say what -were King or mightiest Pontiff, did 
The multitude with scorn pay back the scorner? 
Look to the new-found continent, where Spain's 
Adopted son, the adventurous Genoese, 
First raised her flag, whose unyoked sons, and mines 
Of gold, and virgin soil, all Europe's Kings 
Deemed lawful spoil: — and lo! an infant race 
Hath sprung at once to giant size, in arts 
And arms towering beyond their sluggish elders: 
So pure the element they breathe, that Kings 
Forget their pride, and re-assume the dignity 
Of men : nor haughty caste of priests nor peers 
Obtrudes twixt them and the sole monarch they 
Obey. 

Fiscal. Thou echoest subtle tenets held 
By infidels who know nor King nor Pontiff. 

Riego. Long, long, may they enjoy that happy ignorance 
Living exemplars of the truth their swords 
Maintained — that under God a nation's weal 
Rests on its will alone. Chief among names 



Scene 2.] the Spanish martyr, 85 

Revered, Virginia's Patriot Sage, who taught 
That truth; and first irrevocably based 
On fixed laws, the freedom of the soul. 

Fiscal. These new lights from abroad, forbid in Spain;. 
Brands — so the Holy Office views them,— plucked 
By rebel heretics from hell to fire 
The temple and the throne; — how used by thee? 

Riego. As heavenly lamps to guide our steps, as erst 
The New World Pilgrims, safe through dangerous paths 
To Peace and Liberty. And holy men 
Would quench the flame ! Vain thought ! Already hatlx 
It pierced this vaulted den of Superstition. 
Creation's sire hath said, Let there be light; 
And ye would raise your puny hands to mar 
His work ! — as easily ye'd quench the spheres. 

Fiscal. Much dost thou speak of holy things; believ'sfc 
Thou in the triune God 1 

Riego. Hold ! hold ! My faith 
Alone concerns myself and that great God 
Who, if 'tis wrong, may punish or forgive. 
If he forbear, what mortal impiously 
Shall intercept his mercy, and presume, 
Unbidden, to avenge his caused 

Fiscal. Thou shun'st 
Our question. Once more: thy answer } 
And temperately. 

Riego. I tell thee, monk, my soul 
To earthly power disclaims allegiance, nor 
Save at the bar of Heaven will make defence. 

Fiscal. And terrible the wrath 'twill there encounter. 
Nor deem its Church may be despised : stern her 
Inflictions; hence not hasty to condemn. 
Once more. — Say, hath not Don Rafael lent his aid 
To strip the Holy Office, and the King 
Of power to punish heretics and traitors'? 

Riego. Of all their power to torture, rob and slay ; 
And freely if again usurped, again 
Would peril life to snatch it from their grasp. 

Fiscal. For this didst give thy suffrage to depose 
The King? 

Riego. In part and for a time ; to save 
The King from guilty union with the foes 
Of Spain; and Spain from ruin. 

Fiscal. And for this 
Hast sought his life 1 

Riego. Never : but saved it—twice ; 
Else not myself alone, but Spain, had now 
Been free. 

Fiscal. The King and Church restored, thou still 
Would'st arm against their power? 

Riego. If they again 
Should plot against my country. 



86 RIEGO, [A- ct ^3 

Fiscal. And in this 
Doubtless, hast secret, sworn abettors'? 

Riego. Many. 

Fiscal. Their names'? [To Secretary.] No answer. Pray, 
how stand they pledged? 

Riego. By all their hopes of freedom here, or peace 
Hereafter, never to betray their friends 
Nor cause. 

Fiscal. Reflect : — once more, their names; their plans'? 

Riego. My lips are sealed. 

Fiscal. Then mark us well, Don Rafael : 
Till noon this day is given thee to reflect; 
If truly penitent, mild penance may 
Ensue ; if thou persist— means may be found 
To draw an answer forth. 

Riego. Use all the means 
Thy Holy Brotherhood from kindred fiends 
Hath robbed, to make its drear abode a type 
Of hel] — my lips are sealed. 

Fiscal. Our task is done. 
Blind passion spurns the mercy would have saved 
Thee from a fearful trial. Haply in 
Solitude, reason may resume her sway; 
And earnest is our prayer thou should'st be ruled 
By her. 

Grand Inquisitor. [Signs to Familiar.] [Exit Riego, guarded. 
Till noon, all stand excused. [Exeunt. 



SCENE III. 

A Street leading to the Palace. Citizens passing to and fro. 
Enter Ballesteros. Then a Carpenter meeting a Citizen. 

Citizen. What brings friend Sanson out thus early 1 

Carpenter. To help on with a gallows for you rebels ; high 
as Hainan's. 

Citizen. Remember, my old lad, Haman was hanged on his 
own gallows. But seriously, for whom'? 

Carpenter. That's none of my business. Some say for Don 
Rafael ; by order of the King and Don Victor Saez. 

Ballesteros. [Aside.] It cannot be ! 

Citizen. Then would I rather Don Victor and Don Fernan- 
do might swing beneath it. 

Carpenter. Why, in the way of trade, I would do as much 
for either. 

Citizen. By Santiago, should it come to that, I'll rob thee of 
the job; I'll build a gibbet gratis, and hang them both to boot. 

[Exeunt different ways* 

Ballesteros. My mission is in vain. 



Scene 4.] the Spanish martyr. 87 

Enter two Hidalgos, meeting.'' 

First Hidalgo. What answer'] — 

Second Hidalgo. The King is inexorable. None but Monks 
approach him. 

First Hidalgo. Mina, they say, is near, and swears if they 
touch a hair of Riego's head, to fire the palace. 

Second Hidalgo. He'll come too late. One hour past noon, 
Don Rafael dies. Louis Antoine might save him if he would. 

First Hidalgo. A Bourbon forgive Riego ! Rely upon it, that's 
a desperate chance. [Exeunt. 

Ballesteros. Yet 'tis the sole hope that's left. The Duke may 
claim him as the prisoner of France: I'll straightway to his 
camp. [Returning. 

Enter Morillo and Abisbal, conversing. 

Abisbal. What think you of a foreign mission'? I am for 
France, gay France. 

Morillo. Gallicia will do forme: — But see our melancholy 
friend : — Why, General, you look as sad as tho 5 yon gibbet was 
for thee. 

Ballesteros. 'Tis for one less deserves it than we, whose base 
desertion doomed him to it. 

Morillo. Thou art in a moping humor. 

Abisbal. Come, return with us. The King will reward his 
friends as well as punish his enemies : say, what wouldst have % 

Ballesteros. That I fear he will never grant. Yet 'tis but to 
make the trial. 

Abisbal. I will insure the boon, tho' it were half his kingdom. 
Come, come. [ Takes his arm, and exeunt. 



SCENE IV. 

The Hall of Audience. 

Enter King Ferdinand, Saez, the Nuncio, Alagon, Abisbal, 
Ballesteros, Morillo, the Alcaldes of the King's Household,, 
Courtiers, Mo?iks, fyc. Saez is conversing earnestly with Abisbal 
and Morillo, who boiu and retire. The King ascends the Throne i 
assisted by Saez and Alagon. 

Saez. Lo ! San Fernando's throne again receives 
Its lawful sovereign. 

King Ferdinand. Under Heaven to none — 
Save my brave Cousin, — do I owe it that 
My hands are freed, more than to faithful Saez: 
And their first act shall lift him to the seat 
Usurped by the traitor, curst San Miguel. 

Saez. For once, let Saez oppose his master's wish. 
Rouse not ambitious hopes might wean my mind 
From holier thoughts. My prayers shall still be thine. 



88 riego, [Act 5, 

King Ferdinand. Myself I know it profits more than thee: 
But much Spain needs thy counsels ; and 'lis fit 
He should be next my throne who's next my heart. 

Saez. Such the deep love I bear thee, that I fear 
Were it crime to serve thee — I should serve thee still, 
Tho' at the peril of my eternal peace. [Kisses the King's hand.] 

During the last speech, Abisbal and Morillo re-enter, the former 
habited as King's Proctor, the latter as an Alcalde. They take the 
arm of Ballesteros, and advance towards the throne. 

Saez. [To King.'] Your Majesty's new friends. 

King Ferdinand. By Holy Mary ! 
Twice, twice my friends, and only once my foes. 

Abisbal. Your Majesty hath proofs of our contrition. 

King Ferdinand. And promised ye rewards. Speak 1 What 
would ye 1 
Is it gold 1 High place at home 1 — Or foreign embassy 1 

Ballesteros. Nor gold nor honors Ballesteros asks : 
I come with bleeding heart to sue for one 
But yesterday his country's idol, now 
Betrayed by friends, deserted by the world. 

King Ferdinand. Be brief, — his name 1 

Ballesteros. Don Rafael de Riego. 

King Ferdinand. Thou pleadst for him 1 chief ruffian of the 
gang 
Who robbed me of my freedom and my crown ! 

Ballesteros. His arm twice saved your Majesty from death ! 
Trusting thy gracious sense of that; — thy pledge 
Of full oblivion for the past — 

King Ferdinand. 'Tis false: — 
That amnesty thou knowest his rebel friends 
And thine, enforced, with daggers at my throat. 
Away; I visit justice on a traitor; 
And Heaven approves: Thou hast betrayed a friend. 
Go, seek some cloister's walls to hide thy shame, 
And purchase masses for the miscreant's soul. 
Begone! Ere I take back thy unearned pardon. 

Abisbal. [Aside to Ballesteros, as he is going.] General ! Adieu! 
Pray, sometimes in thy orisons 
Remember me. 

Morillo. [Aside to Ballesteros.] Farewell! my godly brother: 
Almost I envy thee thy life of peace 
And piety. One day thou'lt be a Saint. 

Ballesteros. [Aside to them.] 'Tisjust: I merit all; but tri- 
umph not; 
Ye too deserted Spain to serve a tyrant : 
The time may come ye too shall meet his wrath ; 
The scoffs of wretches like yourselves ; the hell 
Of conscious guilt. [Exit Ballestejros. 

King Ferdinand. I trust ye come not, Seiiors, 
With this fool's errand in your mouths to vex 
, My ear? 



Scene 4.] the Spanish martyr. 89 

Abisbal. The idle suit did much amaze us. 

Morillo. Your Majesty but spurned the whining dog 
As he deserved. 

King Ferdinand. Forgive Riego ! Oblivion for the past ! 
For unrepented sin ! [To Saez.] Where find we that 7 

Saez. Not in the code of life : else were the flames 
Of Hell extinct, and its rebellious chief 
Reseated near the throne of Heaven. No! God 
Hath said it — I will purge the rebels from 
Among ye. Whosoe'er rebels, shall die. 

King Ferdinand. God's will is the law of Spain: let it be 
done. — 

Saez. [To an Officer.] Proceed. 

Officer. The Alcaldes of the King will take their seats. 
The Alcaldes range themselves before the Throne: Morillo presi- 
ding: Abisbal as Proctor of the King. 

Enter Riego in chains, attended by Alagon. 

Officer. Make way ! Make way, Senors ! Room for the Pri- 
soner! 

Riego is conducted before the Alcaldes. 

Abisbal. Judges! The prisoner now before ye, stands 
Accused of treason. Ask ye for the proofs'? 
What proofs would ye desire? — That he who sits 
On yonder throne is Don Fernando, King 
Of Spain? Or this, the infamous Riego 1 

Alcaldes. No! No! We have proofs enough. 

Morillo. Who needs a lamp to see the noonday sun 7 

Abisbal. Then as King's Proctor, I demand at once 
Judgment of death 'gainst this attainted traitor, 
Don Rafael de Riego. 

Morillo. Judges! Ye 
Have heard the cause : How say ye, Guilty, or 
Not Guilty? 

Alcaldes. Guilty ! Guilty ! 

Morillo. Guilty! And so say we 
All. Hath Don Rafael aught to urge whereby 
To extenuate his crime'? 

Riego. No crime I own: 
No act have done I would not do again. 
Nor one— save such as they who now accuse 
And judge me — did abet. No proofs ye bring: 
No law ye cite : no power ye show to try 
A Spaniard taken in arms against the foes 
Of Spain. As prisoner of France, I claim 
From France a prisoner's due— the usages 
Of war. The Kino's free pardon too I plead, 
Proclaimed at Cadiz: and protest before 
The world against this mockery, under form 
Of law, whereby ye'd blight my fame and life. 

King Ferdinand. Enough ! Enough ! He speaks but to insult 



90 riego, [Act 5, 

His judges and defy the law. Despatch! 

MoriUo. 'Twere well these taunts had been foregone: they but 
Offend the King, from whom alone, this side 
The grave, thy hope of pardon. Nought remains 
Save to declare the sentence of the law — 
That thou Don Rafael de Riego suffer 
An ignominious death: thy head exposed 
At Las Cabezas ; and thy quivering limbs 
Sent to strike terror at the spots where most 
Thy treason blazed. God's mercy save thy soul. 

The Alcaldes rise: all retire to the further end of the Hall, except the 
King, Saez, Alagon, Riego and the Guards. 

King Ferdinand. Now is our triumph sealed. Forth! To ex- 
ecution. 

Saez. [Aside to the King.] But first — the rack] — 

King Ferdinand. [Aside to Saez.] Aye, true : thou'lt see to 
that. 
[To Alagon.] Back to his dungeon; at the appointed hour 
On hurdle drag him to the gallows* foot: 
See that no sympathizing friend approach 
To cheer his soul; should he essay to move 
The rabble, let the drum's loud clamor drown 
His dying speech; then tell the wondering world 
The mighty hero of Cabezas like 
A craven died, and with his latest breath 

Confessed his guilt. [To Riego.] Thus shall thy pride be hum- 
bled, 
And thy proud name be razed from Honor's chronicle. 

Riego. Upon the murderer's head the shame shall rest, 
Not on his victim's. No ! My soul exults 
To think the day shall come when o'er thy falsehoods 
Truth shall prevail, and an impartial world 
Do justice to Riego — and to thee. 

King Ferdinand. Hence ! Hence ! And let that traitorous 
tongue be quelled. 

Enter Doha Theresa, who falls at the King's feet. 

Doha Theresa. Mercy ! O gracious King ! O mercy ! mercy ! 
Riego. [Aside.] Was then this bitterest draught still in re- 
serve 7 
King Ferdinand. How's this ? What would the woman have ? 

Art frantic 1 
Doha Theresa. Aye, well nigh frantic. — O my husband! See! 
They bear him off. O spare him, gracious King. 

King Ferdinand. [Aside.] Riego'swife! [Descends.] Senora, 
rise. 
[To Alagon.] Come hither; 

Do thou take charge of this poor dame, whom grief 
Hath crazed. [To Guards.] Conduct the prisoner to his cell. 



Scene 4.] the Spanish martyr. 91 

Rlego. [Aside.] Now am I Ferdinand's slave. 
[ To the King.] Not for myself, 
O King ! I ask thy pity ; but visit not 
Unmanly vengeance on my guiltless wife. 

King Ferdinand. [ To Guards.] Ha ! Heard ye my command ^ 
[ The Guards surround Riego and conduct him off. 

Doha T/ieresa. Not yet — one moment — 
He's gone ! They have borne him to his death ! 

King Ferdinand. [Aside to Alagon.] So bright 
Thro' tears — how dazzling must she be in smiles'? 

Saez. Our friends await their promised recompense. 

King Ferdinand. True: bid them return at noon. 

Saez rejoins the rest, and exeunt all except the King, Dona The- 
resa and Alagon. The King whispers Alagon, ivho retires^ 
but remains concealed. 

I pity thee, 
Senora, — from my heart, and would befriend thee. 

Dona Theresa. Help me then, gracious King, in this dread 

hour: 
The next may sink me else beyond the reach 
Of human aid. Ah! think: my husband bared 
His breast to ward from thine a ruffian's steel. 
Have mercy now on him ; 'twill stand thee more in stead 
Than will his blood, that awful day, 
When thou shalt sue for mercy to thy King. 

say, shall he not soon be free 1 
King Ferdinand. He may — 

On terms shall mark his sovereign's clemency; 
And thou thyself mayst herald his reprieve. 

Doha Theresa. Thanks ! Thanks I O, Heavenly mission for 
a wife : 
To snatch a husband from the grasp of death. 
Now generous King thou shalt disarm thy foes, 
And from Riego win a pledge the rack 
Could ne'er extort: his wife's unceasing prayers 
Withal that God may lengthen out thy days, 
And in a better world reward thy mercy. 

King Ferdinand. Hem ! Prayers are well — but prithee, fair 
Senora, 
Tease me not thus with charming prudery. 

Doha Theresa. Your Majesty designs some jest: but grief 
Hath made my brain unapt to playful fancies. 

King Ferdinand. See ! See ! The light shines thro' thy feigned 
dullness. 
That glowing cheek betrays the consciousness 
Those lovely lips blush to disown. No prayers 

1 ask,— but love,— such as— thou gavest Don Rafael. 

Doha Theresa. The love I gave my husband ! Why, 'tis his ; 
By title ratified in Heaven ; as holds 
Your Majesty I trust our gracious Queen's. 
9 



92 riego, [Act 5, 

The precious gems that deck thy crown, would shine 

As brightly in a peasant's cap : but love — 

A wife's true love — can sparkle but for one ; 

Borrowing its lustre from the ruby case 

By heavenly love bestowed — a husband's heart. 

King Ferdinand. Say that his fearful penance I remit 1 
My fair Senora shining high the while 
Above the brightest star that gilds my court- 
Might I not hope her smiles at least would — 

Doha Theresa. Never! Knowest thou Riego? And canst 
think 
His wife so vile ? Or dream that he would touch 
The wages of her shame 3 — But sure 1 — Yes, yes ; 
Your Majesty would test a wife's fidelity; 
Not triumph o'er her frailty. 

King Ferdinand. [Aside.] By the sweet Virgin ! 
These modest strivings were enough to kindle 
A saint ; and might deceive, did I not know 
The frailest dame best plays the coy coquette. 
Thy virtue, fair Seiiora, which even more 
Than thy surpassing beauty, vanquishes 
My heart, must not be thus Don Rafael's enemy 
And ours. Say that the Church absolve us all 
From blame ^ — 

Dona Theresa. Could our own hearts — would Heaven acquit 
usl 
Ah ! No : The ties that bind me to my husband, 
No Church imposed, nor but with life dissolves. 
I feel to break them, could a thought so vile 
E'er stain my soul, were sin past all forgiveness. 

King Ferdinand. What ! What ! And dost reject my prof- 
fered favor 1 

Dona Theresa. Speak not of favor, 'twere a crime in thee 
To offer ; infamy in me to think of. 

King Ferdinand. 'Tis time to end this parley. Ponder well 
Senora ; else to-morrow may remorse 
Succeed to pride ; and thou who now disdains't 
Thy Sovereign's bounty, come to feel his power. 

Doha Theresa. There is a power above surpasses thine. 

King Ferdinand. Look not that way— just Heaven befriends 
thy King, 
Beats down his foes, and brings thee to his feet. 
No angry storm shall rain upon me now ; 
But thy soft tears, instead, that glistening as 
They fall like sun-lit showers, shall melt my heart: 
Nor lightnings need I dread, flashed from those eyes ; 
Nor thunders heed, launched by this little hand. 

[ Takes her hand, which she withdraws. 

Doha Theresa. [Aside.] His touch doth freeze my blood! 
O ! My Riego ! 



Scene 4.] the Spanish martyr. 93 

King Ferdinand. Now mark me, Dame : That paragon of 
husbands, 
Whose doom his wife decrees — 

Dona Theresa. O ! Say not that — 

King Ferdinand. High in mid air the noon day sun shall view 
His traitor form loose swinging in the wind. — 

Dona Theresa. O ! Be my life the ransom paid for his. 
Give me his gloomy cell; his death of shame; 
The blazing faggot or the torturing wheel : 
Aught that shall not steep my soul in sin. 

King Ferdinand. Ah! Arch dissembler, who canst talk of sin, 
Yet slay a husband ; idly challenge death, 
And yet withhold a petty sacrifice. 
Incurs nor pain nor guilt. A word from thee, 
Riego lives — for want of it, he dies. 
} Tis but to save a husband. 

Dona Theresa. Say to lose him ; 
Aye, each tho' living, to the other dead : 
Worse, worse than dead, since conscious of our loss. 

King Ferdinand. On thy head rest his blood. 

Dona Theresa. Ye Heavens ! Am I 
So fell a monster ? No ! 'Tis thou dost crush 
Us both. O ! If 'twill sate thy vengeance, tear us 
Apart; let him in exile, far from Spain, 
Pine out his days. Make me thy slave. 

King Ferdinand. My slave ? — 

Dona r J neresa. Thy very slave. 

King Ferdinand. In all ? 

Dona Theresa. All ? Ha ! My thoughts 
Seem wildly rushing to the brink of guilt ; 
Then fly affrighted back to meet despair 
And madness. One day ; one hour's reprieve ! 
Let me behold once more my husband's face; 
Then here will I return, if such thy will, 
And be — as now — a wretch within thy power. 

King Ferdinand. One further pledge — 

Dona Theresa. Have pity ! Oh ! Have pity ! 
Power needs no pledges. 

King Ferdinand. True; nor will I think 
My lovely Envoy, while her hand unlocks 
My prisoner's cell, will leave her captive here 
To pine in gloom. Thy absence will be brief? — 
This must be so. 

Dona Theresa. Must % Must 1 Thy slave obeys. 

King Ferdinand. Ah ! Cunning sex ! Who play the tyrant, 
while 
They feign the slave : ne'er yielding but to conquer. 

Alagon appivaches. 

But see ! Duke Alagon awaits thee. Seiior ! 



94 riego, [Act 5, 

This sorrowing Dame hath leave to see her husband. 

[Alagon bows and waits en Dona Theresa towards the door, 
Seiior! [Alagon returns.] 
[Aside to him.] Much can be done by thee and Saez: be wary. 
Alagon. [Aside to King Ferdinand.] Trust nie, your Majesty 
need have no fears. 

[Exeunt Dona Theresa and Alagon. 
King Ferdinand. She'll keep her secret ; or, if not, he'll scoff 
Her prudish qualms, thinking to shun the question. 
But shall that be 1 Ha !— No. My end once gained, 
That serpent must not live, coiled in my path. 
He dies ; aye, thus shall Heavenly vengeance be 
Appeased, and Ferdinand doubly triumph o'er 
The wretch whom most he dreads. He dies ! He dies ! 

As he is going, enter Abisbal, Morillo, Chamorro, Courtiers, 
Monks, Guards, <$<c. 

[Aside.] My friends again! Must Kings know no repose? 

[Abisbal and Morillo advance, bowing to the King.] 
Your wishes, Sefiors ? Speak them freely : Say, 
What would the noble Conde? 

Abisbal. Leave to serve 
Your Majesty abroad — your faithful envoy — 

King Ferdinand. St. James's ? — or St. Cloud 1 — [Abisbal bows. 
And how reward 
The veteran Conqueror of Mexico % 

Morillo. Since now his gracious King no more doth need 
Morillo's sword — 

King Ferdinand. Ha ! — Was it then to serve 
Thy King that sword was pointed at his heart? 

Abisbal. [Aside to Morillo.] Thou hast raised a storm, Mo- 
rillo, wrecks us both. 

Morillo. I deemed my royal master had forgiven 
His slave's offence — and would forget it. 

King Ferdinand. Just Heaven forgives not rebels: why should 
Kings % 
Were ye not false, why here seeking rewards, 
While still ferocious Mina threats our peace 1 
I banish ye from Spain. Thrice perjured traitors ! 
Dreamed ye I'd trust to ye again ? Hence ! Let not 
The setting sun behold ye in Madrid, 
Else rising, he shall view ye dangling with 
The wretch ye have betrayed, whose crimes compared 
With yours, seem virtues. 

[Exeunt 



Scene 5.] the Spanish martyr. 95 

SCENE V. 

A Cell in the Inquisition. Riego chained to the Floor, 

Riego. O Spain ! My much-loved, wretched country ! Far, 
Far happier is my fate than thine. A moment, 
And all my sufferings cease; thy bosom still 
Must heave beneath the weight of bigot power. 
A tyrant rules thee, propped by foreign hands, 
And guided by a soulless monk — a fiend 
Whose thoughts, darker than ocean's deepest cave, 
Breeds monsters more remorseless. But come, 
It will, the joyful day of thy deliverance. 
To those who till them, then thy teeming fields 
Shall yield their golden fruitage ; and the graves 
Of Freedom's martyred sons shall echo back 
Thro' all thy hills and vales, her sacred anthem. 

[A secret panel opens, at which Saez appears unseen by Riego.] 

Saez. Untouched ! The miscreants gone who should have 
made 
Him feel the pains his haughty spirit braves. 

Riego. But for my wife, I could defy their malice. 
Poor sufferer ! [Raises his handkerchief to his face.'] 

Saez. 'Tis the right key, if any, should unlock 
His bosom to my errand; but I have read 
Him much amiss, if the bare whisper do 
Not raise a storm his death alone can lay. 

Enter Ugarte and Romualdo. 

So ! Our knaves ; in time to let him taste the sweets 
Of the proud martyrdom he covets. 

Ugarte. [Touching Riego.] Senor, your sand is nearly out. 
Riego. Ah! True! I am ready; this, [gives his handkerchiej] 
give to my wife ; 
[Aside.] Stained with the only tear e'er shamed my manhood. 
Now, one pang more— and that, remember, sudden and final. 

Ugarte. Doubt us not, Senor ; so fiercely shall our engine 
act, that ere pain be felt, feeling shall have ceased. 

[ They are about to unlock his Chains. 
Saez. No! No. That must not be.— Suffering's the meed 
Of guilt; and must be his, ere he can earn 
The luxury of a grave. [Advances.] Hold! hold! 

[Makes a sign to Familiars — they retire. 
Didst think 
To baffle Saez 1 What ! Would Riego crown 
His noble deeds with suicide ] And shrink 
Like common men from pain ? 
9* 



96 riego, [Act 5, 

Riego. A moment more, 
This torment he at least had shunned, of now 
Again beholding thee. 

Saez. And I, it seems, 
A pleasure lost, never to be recalled. 

Riego. That-— many such— may still be thine : to stretch 
Thy victim on the rack— to taunt his sufferings — 
To catch his blood-shot eye, while glancing looks 
Would pierce or melt aught but a monkish heart — 
To view his every limb and feature warped 
And quivering with excess of agony ! 
O ! 'Twere a study of most rare delight : 
Worthy the Devil— or Saez himself. Hell— Hell 
Has nothing comparable. 

Saez. Rail on — then hear me. 
I came to offer thee deliverance. 

Riego. Thou ! 
'Tis thou dids't plot my death ; doom me to torture ; 
And now would'st raise delusive hopes to glut thy vengeance. 

Sa£z. Not mine the boon ; the King would be thy friend. 

Riego. Ferdinand Riego's friend ! Is he not thine 1 — 

Saez. Pity, at least, it seems, howe'er misplaced, 
Hath touched his heart. 

Riego. As soon 'twould melt a tiger's, 
As his or thine, till Heaven's avenging bolts 
First rive a passage thro' your flinty bosoms. 
Thou mockest me, Monk; or tellest of charm more strange 
Than that of old, transforming men to brutes — 
A spell to change a monster into man. 

Saez. A spell in sooth ; wrought too by a fair Enchantress. 

Riego. I prithee keep this wondrous tale to adorn 
Thy saintly legends ; scarce I'd credit thee, 
Tho' newly risen from the grave. 

Saez. I know ; 
Riego fain would die for Liberty ; 
Martyrdom far more precious in his eyes 
Than a dull life of ease and honor. Even 
A widowed wife — 

Riego. Draw not my thoughts that way : 
Forbear ! Forbear ! 

Saez. How else my errand tell ? 
For 'tis to her thou owest thy Sovereign's kindness. 

Riego. Be merciful for once, and torture not 
The soul. Speak what thou hast to say ; or leave me. 

Saez. Know then— the King's enamored of thy wife. 

Riego. Impostor ! Demon ! 

Saez. Vanquished by her charms, 
He deigns to place her next his Gtueen in rank, 
And first in favor — 

Riego. Sure I have been wrench'd 
Upon the wheel, and with returniug life 



Scene 5.] the Spanish martyr. 97 

My senses stray in dreams more horrid than 
The pangs it gave. t 

Saez. Recall thy wandering reason; 
Hear all : then make thy choice — a felon's death; 
Or Freedom, with the rule of fair Galicia. 
Nay, more — 

Riego. What more ? What more ? Do I still breathe 
On Earth'? Or is not this the dread abode 
Where penal su fife rings purify the soul 
From sins done in the flesh ? 

Saez. Riego raves; 
The firm, the resolute Riego ; fancying 
Insults from hands would shower brignt honors on him. 
Say that the Church permission gives ; thy wife 
Her free consent? 

Riego. Say that the sun's an icicle ! 
The frozen pole a mass of liquid fire — 
That Heaven's the dwelling place of Monks : say that 
There's honor — virtue— truth — in Ferdinand 
And thee :— Tell aught— but that. 

Saez. 'Tis love of thee 
Favors his suit — and would bespeak thy sanction. 

Riego. Amazing liar! Could I but reach thee — I 
Would grasp thee till some touch of torment thou 
Should'st feel like that thou'dst give ; then leave thy carcass 
Fit morsel for the toads this vault engenders. 

Saez % That fate be thine ! — or worse. But mark me well : 
Thou mays't reject the boon thy King would grant, 
And not the less yield her on whom thou doatest. 
Ferdinand will not be foiled in schemes of love : 
When thou shalt in thy grave unquietly 
Be laid, thy beauteous dame in his embrace 
Shall find a solace for her loss. 

Riego. Ah ! Fiends 
As ye are, ye dare not meet the blasting fire 
Which beams from Virtue's eye. Begone ! 

[Saez going, converses with Familiars, wha retire. 
But— Ah !— 
Then so may I again behold her face, 
And vindicate her truth. Don Victor ! Prithee 
Return. My wife, thou says't, consents ? — And freely ? 

Saez. I have it from the Duke. 

Riego. Still, I would hear it 
From her own lips. 

Saez. What then? 

Riego. What then? What then?— 

Saez. Speak out: the pledge! Thoul't yield her to the 
King. 

Riego. What! Yield her— to?— If she consent, I will — 
I will — to him or thee. 

Saez. I scarce can think 



98 riegOj [Act 5, 

This whim should be indulged. But Alagon's 
Within who better knows pur master's wish. 

Saez withdraws ; the secret panel opens and Alagon enters* He 
and Saez converse apart, out of view 0/ Riego. 

Riego. Alagon ! Ferdinand's fit tool, and thine, 
For all foul service. 

Saez. [Aside to Alagon.] A precious scheme ! "What mis- 
chiefs 
Would it not work, but that its folly doth. 
Insure its failure. 

Alagon. 'Tis the King's own scheme. 

Saez. 'Twill fail ; 'twill fail ; and best for him it should. 

[Exeunt thro 1 the panel, 

Riego. Consents 7— No, no : 'tis an infernal plot. 

Enter Dona Theresa from the opposite side. 

Dona Theresa. My husband! 

Riego. Once more heart to heart ; my wife ! 
My faithful wife ! Thou wouldst not then forsake me? 

Dona Theresa. In weal nor woe; nor thou thy poor Theresa? 

Riego. Not for all earthly blessings coupled with 
Unfading glory and immortal life. 

Dona Theresa.. Thou makest me happy ! Happy? No, alas! 
Most wretched. Oh ! — I have a pang for thee — 
The cell of torture can supply none fiercer. 

Riego. Nay, spare thyself and me the harrowing tale. 
Already have I heard enough. , 

Dona Theresa. The monster! 
A hideous scheme : yet — Oh ! My husband — almost 
I wished — canst thou forgive me 1 — almost now 
I wish — thou wouldst accept his cruel mercy. 
Nay, cling not to me thus ; else art thou wrecked. 
O ! 'Ere the driving tempest send thy barque 
Adrift, use the sole anchor left, and cast 
Me from thee — 

Riego. Into shame and misery. 

Doha Theresa. Thy freedom gained — Heaven gives the key 
to mine. [Shows a dagger,] 

Riego. My own Theresa ! Ah ! I know, I feel 
Thy pure self-sacrificing love ; and deep, 
Deep in the bosom of my soul it dwells; 
Thence ne'er by mortal hand to be divorced. 
But think not thy Riego had endured 

A life so saved — so cursed in saving. [Eyeing the dagger.] Ha! 
Pray lend it me. [She gives it.] By Heaven, thou smilest as tho' 
Thy beaming light were sent to guide me thro' 
The gloom, and carve a way beyond the reach 
Of brutal vengeance. 

Doha Theresa. First redeem thy wife ! 
The glittering blade once more my breast shall greet, 



Scene 5.] the Spanish martyr. 99 

A token of love to lure me to thy arms, 
My haven of bliss— my refuge from despair. 

Riego. Might Heaven approve, how sweet it were to die, 
Locked in this last embrace. 

Doha Theresa. Call it not death ; 
Rather a brief and sweet siesta, whence 
Angels shall wake us, as on high they chant 
The marriage of our souls, and beckon us 
To share their joys. 

Riego. No ! — 'Twas a desperate, hideous 
Fancy. Thou tempting fiend, how didst thou prompt 
My hand to damning sin ! But God be thanked, 
3 Tis past. I cannot stain with blood, thy blood, 
This snowy pillow of my joys and griefs, 
Nor bring upon our souls the frov\n of Heaven. 
Live my Theresa, for thy husband's sake ; 
Thou best canst guard his fame from those whose malice 
Would stab him in the grave. Think him still near thee ; 
And let his image, like a pleasing dream, 
Dwell with thee, 'till the hour we meet again. 

Dona Theresa. 'Twill not be long. [Bell tolls.] Hark! Hark! 

Riego. 'Tis time — we part — 

Doha Theresa. Part ! Part?— Thou wilt not use the friendly 
steel, 
And yet canst speak that word. We must not part: 
Thus will I cleave to thee, in life— in death — 

Suddenly the back door of the cell opens, discovering a range of cells — 
the inmost of which is the Cell of Torture, wherein is placed an 
Engine, surrounded by Inquisitors, and Friars in long black 
cloaks, each bearing a Taper. 

Ugarte and Romualdo advance. 

See there ! Away ! O ! Hide me ! Save me. [She swoons.] 
Ugarte. The bell hath tolled— 

Riego. [Not noticing him.] Oh ! Would that sigh had been 
thy last ! [Lays her on his pallet.] 

Enter Saez through the secret panel. 

Saez. Are ye resolved % 

Riego. Thou must abide her answer. 

Sa£z. Tear them apart. 

Riego. Touch her not! Touch her not ! [Raises the dagger.] 

Enter a Familiar. 

Familiar. A priest attends to confess Don Rafael. 

Saez signs to Ugarte and Romualdo, who retire the way they en- 
tered, closing the door. 
Saez. [To Familiar.] Father Hilario, is it not 1 
Familiar. Father Hilario is sick in bed ; an old friend takes 

his place — a canon, from his habit. 



ICO riego, [Act 5, 

Riego. [ Aside.] It may— it must be he. 

Saez. [To Familiar.] When he retires, 
Once more sound thou the bell. [Exit Familiar.] Our rule 

forbids 
All witnesses to this last solemn rite. 

Riego. I beg thou wilt observe it : as for her, 
She lies too near a better world to heed 
What passes here. 

Enter the Canon Riego, v:ho pauses as in prayer , until Saez re- 
tires thro'' the secret panel. 

[Aside.] 'Tishe! My kindest brother ! [Embracing.] 

The Canon. Dear Rafael ! I came to comfort thee — 
Bat most myself need comfort: I ; m a child. [Weeps.] 

Riego. Tnou hast ever been to me the best of brothers; 
O ! Be as such to her. Bear her at once 
To some free land, far from the fiends whose hate 
Pursues even her. Fulfil this last request. 

Th: Canon. I will; I will ; by the pure soul of our mother! 
Should Angouleme not claim thee as his prisoner — 
If thou must perish — Mina leaves lost Spain this night for Eng- 
land. 

Riego. God be thanked ! In Mina she will find 
A sure protector ; in his wife a friend. 
My brother ! Thou hast brought me comfort: Aye, 
That I most craved, but had not hoped. To know 
That she is safe, will dull the sting of death, 
And fill my soul with joy beyond the grave. 
Farewell, dear brother ! And once more — once more — 
My stricken wife! — [Places Iver in the Canon's arms.] 
Tell her 'twas my request. 

The Canon. I may — may see thee — yet again ; if not — 
May God be with thee — in thy hour of trial. 

[Exit the Canon, beating off Dos a Theresa. 

The bell sounds: re-enter Saez, Ugarte and Romualdo. 

Sojez. How's this t Thy wife removed! 

Riego. Was she thy prisoner'? 

Saez. Then once for all ; th}' answer to the King : 
Wilt thou retract thy treasons, and accept 
His pardon on full submission to his will 1 

Riego. Never! Now to thy work. [Gives TJgjlrte the dagger.] 

Saez. Thy hour is come ; 
The hurdle waits that bears thee to the doom, 
Thy country and her laws decree. 

Riego. 'Tis false ; 
Saez knows 'tis false. My country hath no law, 
Save a stern tyrant's will. Riego dies 
To lull that tyrant's fears ; to feed a Jesuit's 
Malice. Be it so ; soon death shall snatch him from 
Their grasp; and bear his spirit to realms of peace. 



Scene 6.] the Spanish martyr. 101 

But— will his murderers?— Look up! Ha! No; nol 
They feel that never while the Heavens endure 
Can souls distained with guiltless blood, know rest. 

[Saez signs to the Familiars and exit thro* the secret panel. They 
unlock Riego's chain and conduct him thro 1 the door leading to~ 
wards the Cell of Torture.'] 



SCENE VI. 

A Room in the Palace. King Ferdinand on a Conchy conversing 
with Alagon. 

Alagon. But Angouleme pursues : there's no escape. 

King Ferdinand. Granted— the vile rebel falls : — What Con- 
queror 
Shall quell rebellious thoughts 1 — Who slay the slayer 
Death 1 — Alagon ! I'm sick : that muffled drum — 
Its solemn dirge struck terror to my soul, 
Roused from sweetest musings ; and still rings 
Like death-watch in my ear. Then followed curses, 
And shouts — and then a frightful crash — thou heardst it=» 
As of walls down shaken by the quaking earth. 

Alagon. Your Majesty needs rest. 

King Ferdinand. Aye ! That is it. 
But there's no rest for me this side the grave. — 
Dost think there's life beyond it 1 — 

Alagon. I fear there is. 

King Ferdinand. At times that thought o'erpowers me j and 
the dread 
Lest our false oaths and sinful deeds condemn us. 

Alagon. No sin can at thy door be laid, who dost 
In all obey the Church : but say 'twere sin ; 
Her pious masses make thy pardon sure. 

King Ferdinand. Ah! Alagon! Musi Heaven perforce forgive 
Whom man acquits 1 Or say, our masses fail 1 
Or should in this our Holy dogmas err — 

Enter Saez, in deep dejection. 

Look there! Behold! Now Saez— Speak ! Speak! Art dumb 1 
Riego hath escaped — 

Saez. Never again 
He'll vex thy peace. Now heavily hangs his head, 
As flaps the sail the storm gone by, and all 
Its breathings spent. 

King Ferdinand. Then stands my throne secure. 

Saez. Scarce had he breathed his last, when Mina— 



102 RIEGO, [Act 5j 

King Ferdinand. Mina 

Suez. All gashed with wounds ; his eye with vengeance fired, 
Heading La Isla's furious band, and passing 
Our sluggish allies, forced the gates— 

King Ferdinand. My blood ! — 
My blood ! for that the savage thirsts. 

Saez. They seek 
Riego : — ignorant of his fate, against 
The temple of our Holy Office first 
Their fury turned. A moment did the work 
Of centuries, and it stands a hideous ruin : 
Its sacred chambers and its secret cells 
Profaned by gaze of sacrilegious scorners; 
Its instruments of justice broken ; its prisoners 
Unfettered, breathing the pure air of Heaven, 
Their crimes still unatoned ; their mangled limbs 
And ghastly visages displayed to raise 
The pity of the mob, and spur it on 
To deadlier vengeance. Hither now 7 they bend 
Their course to claim Riego at thy hands. 

King Ferdinand. And say they that 1 Can I restore the dead ? 
Would that I could; that peace like theirs were mine; 
Or consciousness with life might cease, and soul 
And body rest in one oblivious sleep. 
How joyfully would I then leap the gulf, 
And bury all my pain. Ah, Saez! Should Heaven 
Hereafter deal by us as we have dealt— [Noise without.] 

Saez. 'Tis Mina's daring band. 

King Ferdinand. And let them come : 
Mother of God ! Is there a pang for man 
Reserved — Death's fearful call ; the startling trump 
Shall wake the sinner to his doom ; that doom 
Itself; can like remorse, torment the souH 
DeLacy! Vidal! Porlier! Murdered, tortured 
Riego ! Tortured by the wretch he saved. 
Will not a host of bloody spectres meet 
Us face to face before the awful presence % 
And shall we not like them then plead in vain 7 
1 see them now ! Remorse ! Remorse ! Remorse ! 

[Alarms without.] 

Saez. 'Twere best your Majesty had thought of this 
Before. 

King Ferdinand. And thou canst say it ! Thou Evil One 
Who tempted me to blood : aye ; and canst look 
As unconcerned as tho' thou hadst no soul 
To perish in the pit that flames before us. 
I am weak: my limbs give way; or rocks the earth 
Beneath my feet 7 [Totters: Saez and Alagon support him.] 
Saez ! Alagon ! Ye have changed 
To fiends ! Unhand me ! Off! Away ! Away. 

[Sinks on his Couch.] 



Scene 6.] riego. 103 

Alagon. Quite spent : — remorse makes fearful work. 

Saez. Pho! Pho! Remorse is fear: a bugbear raised 
By a sickly conscience to affright itself. 
The resolute dread no goblins ; least of all 
The mighty shadows of their own great deeds. 

Alagon. This flaw may quench even brighter hopes than mine. 

Saez. Brighter than San Fernando's jewelled crown — 
[Aside.] Or by God's Holy Mother might he lie 
Thus spectre-tranced 'til waked by Gabriel's blast. 

K. Ferd. Drink ! drink ! How's this 1 Who used me thus ^ 
More! more! 
Methinks I'd quaff an ocean dry. Ah! Satan! [To Saez.] 
A fire burns here; lit by the wrath of God. [Alarms.] 
No traitor's sword, tho' driven to the hilt. 
Can stir the flame to fiercer heat : no ; no : 
Nor quench it were my heart a lake of blood. 
Glozing Serpent! Have I not cause to curse thee? 

Saez. Curse as thou wilt : my prayers and faithful service— 

K. Ferd. Avaunt ! Thou'rt hateful to my sight. [Exit Saez. 
[Alarms.] 

Alagon. [Looks out.] 'Tis Mina, leading on La Isla's rebels. 

King Ferd. Aye ! Rushing at my throat while Angouleme, 
That vaunting Gascon, loiters by the way. 

Alagon. Now ! now ! Behold ! — My Guard retreat! See! See ! 

K. Ferd,. Base hounds ! And thou standst here ! Their leader \ 
Hold ! — Nay go : — go or stay, my hour is come. [Exit Alagon, 
Is death indeed at hand 1 Must I thus perish, 
My soul fresh-spotted with Riego's gore ? 

Oh! That once more I might confess my sins. [A Retreat sounds.] 
Hark ! Hark ! Vile Mina flies : Ah no, my Guard ! 
My faithless Guard ! Pray ! pray for me, sweet Mary! 
Blest Mother of God. [Totters: Noises near.] 

Enter Alagon and Guard; and Saez. 

Saez. [Supports him.] Your majesty is safe. [Distant bugle.] 

K. Ferd. Saez ! — Alagon ! — I'm snatched from death. But 
Mina?— 

Saez. Heard'st not the bugle's call 1 The rebels fly, 
Dismayed at Angouleme's approach. Behold! — 

King Ferd. 'Tis he ! Victorious Angouleme !--My coach ! 

Saez. Even now his myriads reach the city gate. 
Yon clouds of dust that hide the mountain tops— 

K. Ferd. My coach!— Ha! Ha! I can but laugh;— what, 
Mina! 
Heroic Mina ! — like a hunted fox 
Skulking for life. Would he were now beside 
His doughty chief This brightening hoar my soul 
Darts forth from foul eclipse : Now could 1 meet 
A thousand traitors living or dead. My coach ! 
Our R.oyal Cousin shall have a princely welcome. [^xewrU, 



104 riego [Scene 7. 

SCENE VII. 

The Prado. Solemn Music without. Enter Mina and Soldiers. 

Mina. Too late, my friends ! too late ! The mighty soul 
Of our great enterprise ; our chief, our brother 
Is gone. Freed from his chains, he soars to realms 
No tyrant dare approach. The foes of liberty 
Alone were his : Ye loved him for ye knew 
He loved his country more than gold, or life, 
Or fame : Aye, more than mother, wife, or friend; 
His every thought her welfare and her glory. 

Enter the Brothers of Peace and Charity, hearing the bier of Riego 
followed by the Canon Riego. 

First Brother. Alms, good friends, to inter the outlawed dead ! 

Alms are given by Mina, and afterwards by the Soldiers. 

Mina. [Approaching the Canon.] Thy brother's wife? — 
The Canon. Heart-broken — within Descalzas' holy walls. 
Mina. She will need Seiiora Mina's friendly cares — 
The Canon. And thine. 'Twas my brother's — last request. 
Mina. Meet us— near the Bridge of Manzanares. 
Farewell ! Thou brother of my soul ! What tho' 
No purple pall be thine'? a grander canopy 
Is arched above thee, thro' whose azure folds 
The Sire and His avenging Angels view 
Thy shroudless corse. 'Death, friend of suffering virtue- 
Hath tipped for thee his barbed dart with balm: 
And now thou sleep'st in his kind arms. Self-doomed, 
Thy murderer tosses on his downy couch, 
While at his blood-stained hand thy soul receives 
Heaven's passport to its sunbright realms. — What tho' 
No sculptured stone record thy praise? when Ferdinand's 
Dismantled tomb shall be a crumbling ruin, 
The just, the brave, shall moisten with tearful eye 
The everliving turf that marks Riego's grave. 

Covers the face with his sash: the Brothers return to the Bier. 

And now farewell ! O Spain ! Flow dark thy fate ! 

Stifling thy very life the Monster-Hag 

Of Bigotry bestrides thy prostrate form. 

But Freedom's setting sun shall rise again 

To break her spell— and exiled Mina live 

To greet its earliest beam, and lay his head 

Upon thy lap— beside thy martyred son. 

[The Procession passes, Mina and Soldiers standing with arms re- 
verged; and the Curtain falls to Solemn Music] 



NOTES. 



Page 15. Vinuesa. " Thou hast mapped it plainly dovm?" 
The plot of Don Matias Vinuesa is given at length by Mira- 
flores. Vid. vol. 1 , pp. 94, 447. 

P. 27. u III starred Lacy I And — shall I name him? Porlier! — " 

For an account of the treacherous seizure and savage murder 

of these co-laborers in the cause of Spanish freedom by order of 

Ferdinand and his ministers — See Blaquiere's Hist, of the Span. 

Rev. 10 Ed. An. Reg. 174, &c. 

P. 30. "Hard by lies Don Mamertoh mangled form? 

The murder of Landabaru, the counter revolutionary move- 
ments immediately following of the Royal guard, and their con- 
flict with and defeat by the National militia of Madrid describ- 
ed in the next scene are related apparently with exact impar- 
tiality by the Marq. of Miraflores, himself an eye witness. See 
vol. 2 of his work, p. 16, &c. 

Pages 36 & 37. The Embroidering Scene— and Dream. — Refer 
to Walton's Letters. DonEsteban. 9 vol. Niles' Reg. 412.— 
Whitbread's speech, 29 vol. of Pari. Deb. p. 1163. 

Ibid. The Procession. For a description of Spanish proces- 
sions see Whittington's Travels in Spain. 

Page 41. "And before Heaven, 
And them, will pledge my royal word" fyc. 

The frightened monarch on the 6th March, 1820, decreed an 
immediate convocation of the Cortes, according to the ancient 
laws. On the 9th, at the instance of Ballasteros, he swore to 
the Constitution of 1812, which had been first proclaimed by 
Riego at Las Cabezas, on the 1st of January preceding. He 
also commanded Ballasteros to administer the same to the 
army. The inquisition was abolished the same day, and all 
persons imprisoned for political opinions set at large. On the 
9th July following, he again took the oath before the Cortes to 
support the Constitution, in presence of the Royal family, the 
Diplomatic corps, ;ind an immense concourse of citizens, &e, 
Miraf. History of Spain. 

Pas^e 47. The Hall of the Cortes: the Cortes in session, &c. See 
Gtuin's visit to Spain in 1822, p. 55, &c. 



106 NOTES. * 

Page 50. ' T%s liberty, 
My friends ; that, thaVs the pestilence whose spread 
These Holy Allies dread : what tyrant does not ? 

See The Declarations of the Allied Powers in May, 1851, 
Nesselrode's Circular, &c. 

The First Article of the Secret Treaty of Verona, November 
1822, is as follows: 

"Les hautes parties contractantes, pleinement convaincues 
que le systeme du gouvernment representatif est aussi incom- 
patible avec le principe monarchique que la maxime de la Sou- 
verainete du peuple est opposee au principe du droit divin, s'obli- 
gent, de la maniere la plus solennelle, a employer tous leurs moy- 
ens et a unir tous leurs efforts pour detruire le systeme du gou- 
vernment representatif dans quelque Etat de 1' Europe ou il ex- 
iste, et pour eviter qu' il s'introduise dans les Etats ou il n'est 
pas connu." 

Page 54. "England struck off a Stuart's head — and France a 
Bourbon's." 

Somewhat similar allusions by Patrick Henry in the Virginia 
Convention, and by Manuel in the French Chamber of Depu- 
ties, occasioned commotions very similar to that here attempted 
to be described. 

Page 77. MorilWs ferocity. The trait of ferocity ascribed in 
this scene to Morillo was suggested by an incident in his ca- 
reer related by Mrs. E. F. Ellet, in the Democratic Review. 

Page 67. " France, regenerate France out of whose cup" 
&c. I Jer. c. 51, 7. 

Page 89. Trial of Riego before the Alcaldes of the King's House- 
hold. Some account of this judicial mockery, for so Miraflores 
admits it was— may be found in the " Causes Celebres Politiques 
du xix. e siecle." It is there said that the names of the Judges 
have never transpired. None perhaps could be suggested wor- 
thier to preside over such a tribunal than the ferocious and 
treacherous Morillo. 

Page 99. The Cell of Torture. Whoever will take the trou- 
ble to consult the remarks of " A Royalist " in the U. Serv. 
Mag. for 1833 pt. 3, p. 468, &c. will find that allusions to the holy 
office and its engines of torture, in connexion with the fate of 
Riego, are not merely fanciful. That writer, no friend to the 
Spanish patriots or their cause, gives strong reasons for his be- 
lief that the torture was actually applied : and indeed seems to 
refer to the fact as accounting, if not apologizing, on the ground 
of State necessity, for afterwards subjecting this illustrious mar- 
tyr to an ignominious death ! First mangled by torture, and 
then murdered by the cord, lest his swollen and dislocated limbs 
might cause the very stones to revolt against monarchical and 
ecclesiastical cruelty ! 



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